The New York Times has a long list of the worst virus outbreaks in the U.S. The list includes facilities with 50 or more cases.
Among facilities with more than 150 cases, jails and meatpacking plants predominate (presumably, the virus can survive longer where there’s meat). The U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt and a few long-term care facilities, such as psychiatric hospitals, also have large numbers of cases.
Most long-term care facilities are relatively small and appear further down on the Times list. However:
Across the country, a pattern has played out with tragic consistency: Someone gets sick in a nursing home. Soon, several residents and employees have the coronavirus. The New York Times has identified more than 6,400 nursing homes and other long-term care facilities across the United States with coronavirus cases. More than 100,000 residents and staff members at those facilities have contracted the virus, and more than 17,000 have died. That means more than a quarter of the deaths in the pandemic have been linked to long-term care facilities.
It’s hard to imagine the suffering that’s going on behind closed doors (including the doors of houses and apartments).
| Marion Correctional Institution — Marion, Ohio | 2268 |
| Pickaway Correctional Institution — Scioto Township, Ohio | 1655 |
| Smithfield Foods pork processing facility — Sioux Falls, S.D. | 1095 |
| Trousdale Turner Correctional Center — Hartsville, Tenn. | 1037 |
| U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt — Guam | 969 |
| Cook County jail — Chicago, Ill. | 940 |
| Cummins Unit prison — Grady, Ark. | 911 |
| Lakeland Correctional Facility — Coldwater, Mich. | 821 |
| Bledsoe County Correctional Complex — Pikeville, Tenn. | 585 |
| Harris County jail — Houston, Texas | 488 |
| Neuse Correctional Institution — Goldsboro, N.C. | 480 |
| JBS USA meatpacking plant — Green Bay, Wis. | 348 |
| G. Robert Cotton Correctional Facility — Jackson, Mich. | 347 |
| Lansing Correctional Facility — Lansing, Kan. | 336 |
| Triumph Foods meat processing facility — St. Joseph, Mo. | 295 |
| Butner Prison Complex — Butner, N.C. | 266 |
| Sterling Correctional Facility — Sterling, Colo. | 260 |
| Paramus Veterans Memorial Home — Paramus, N.J. | 256 |
| Trenton Psychiatric Hospital — Trenton, N.J. | 247 |
| JBS USA meatpacking plant — Greeley, Colo. | 245 |
| Parnall Correctional Facility — Jackson, Mich. | 243 |
| American Foods Group meat processing facility — Green Bay, Wis. | 241 |
| JBS USA meatpacking plant — Grand Island, Neb. | 230 |
| Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women — St. Gabriel, La. | 216 |
| Shelby County jail — Memphis, Tenn. | 205 |
| Westville Correctional Facility — Westville, Ind. | 200 |
| Stateville Correctional Center — Crest Hill, Ill. | 196 |
| Hackensack Meridian Health Nursing and Rehab Care Center — Hackensack, N.J. | 190 |
| Franklin Medical Center prison hospital — Columbus, Ohio | 185 |
| Christian Health Care Center — Wyckoff, N.J. | 183 |
| The Harborage nursing home — North Bergen, N.J. | 181 |
| Tyson Foods meatpacking plant — Waterloo, Iowa | 180 |
| Andover Subacute and Rehabilitation Center II — Andover, N.J. | 176 |
| Redwood Springs nursing home — Visalia, Calif. | 174 |
| Central Detention Facility — Washington, D.C. | 172 |
| Lincoln Park Care Center — Lincoln Park, N.J. | 168 |
| PruittHealth Palmyra nursing home — Albany, Ga. | 167 |
| Tyson Foods meatpacking plant — Columbus Junction, Iowa | 166 |
| Soldiers’ Home — Holyoke, Mass. | 163 |
| Gallatin Center for Rehabilitation and Healing — Gallatin, Tenn. | 162 |
| JBS Beef Plant — Cactus, Texas | 159 |
| Dillwyn Correctional Center — Dillwyn, Va. | 158 |
| Northern State Prison — Newark, N.J. | 158 |
| California Institution for Men — Chino, Calif. | 154 |
| Perdue Farms meat processing facility — Cromwell, Ky. | 154 |
| Brookdale Paramus assisted living facility — Paramus, N.J. | 153 |
| George Beto Unit prison — Tennessee Colony, Texas | 153 |
| JBS USA pork production facility — Worthington, Minn. | 151 |
A president who was reluctant to force the production of protective gear was willing to force meatpacking plants to stay open. Why? On one side are giant corporations who want to continue business as usual and millions of voters who would be affected by a shortage. On the other is a low-paid workforce mostly made up of people — immigrants, Latinos and African Americans — who don’t matter to the president at all. Q.E.D.
Whereof One Can Speak 🇺🇦 