269 meatpacking workers in US die of Covid: Report

At least 59,000 meatpacking workers in the US were infected with Covid-19, of which 269 of them lost their lives, according to a report published by a US House of Representatives panel earlier this week.

The US House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis used internal documents from some of the country’s biggest meatpacking companies for the report, which noted the infections and deaths at those companies were around three times higher than previous estimates, Xinhua news agency reported.

Instead of addressing the clear indications that workers were contracting the coronavirus at alarming rates due to conditions in meatpacking facilities, meatpacking companies prioritized profits and production over worker safety, continuing to employ practices that led to crowded facilities in which the virus spread easily, the panel report said.

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