Posted on 05/08/2020 7:01:51 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Gov. Kristi Noem said Thursday that she plans to speak with Smithfield Food workers by phone Thursday night and Friday morning.
Her comments come one week after more than 50 organizations and individuals, including Smithfield workers, asked to meet with her to discuss conditions at the plant in Sioux Falls.
Noem said she worked with the human resources staff at Smithfield to set up the phone calls.
“We’ve lined up a call that will facilitate interpreters so that we can have questions and answers and get them all the information they may be wanting,” Noem said at her daily coronavirus press briefing.
The plant resumed operations Thursday “after receiving positive confirmation from the CDC and USDA that the company is in full compliance with all CDC and OSHA guidance,” Smithfield Foods said in a news release, noting it will take a phased approach to reopening.
“Identifying more positives is a good thing. It’s a good thing because we’re identifying them before the plant gets up and running,” Noem said of recent mass testing of Smithfield workers. “We’re protecting these folks, keeping them isolated and healthy.”
Mass testing of Smithfield employees was implemented at a Sioux Falls high school parking lot on Monday morning, where employees and families could drive through to have samples taken for testing.
(Excerpt) Read more at rapidcityjournal.com ...
FOR THOSE INTERESTED IN THE HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE TRIALS THAT STARTED,IT IS STILL GOING ON....
Clinical trials
Derrick Haskins, communications director for the Department of Health, explained in an email to the Journal on Thursday that there are two trials for hydroxychloroquine: one is a registry trial for COVID-19 patients, and the other is a clinical trial for those exposed to COVID-19.
270 people were treated in the state’s registry trial for hydroxychloroquine last week, Haskins said. Those in the registry trial are hospitalized or outpatients who have tested positive for COVID-19 and receive hydroxychloroquine as treatment.
All of the 270 registry trial participants so far are Sanford patients in South Dakota and other states with Sanford hospitals. Haskins said the registry trial is open to individuals being treated by any health care provider in the state.
When asked about how the 270 patients in the trial were doing and whether any had recovered from COVID-19 yet, Malsam-Rysdon said to contact Sanford Health for any further hydroxychloroquine trial questions. At the time of publishing, Sanford has not yet responded to an email about the condition of the 270 patients in the trial.
Secondary to the registry trial is the state’s clinical trial, which does not yet have any participants.
Malsam-Rysdon said the clinical trial is going through the review process now and the department met with Sanford on Thursday to discuss the trial.
“We expect to have more information about it starting next week,” Malsam-Rysdon said.
The clinical trial would be for those exposed to COVID-19, including hospital workers, high-risk people, and those 60 and older.
The clinical trial will be randomized, so those who are exposed but not yet COVID-19 positive will either receive a placebo or hydroxychloroquine to see if the drug prevents them from contracting the coronavirus.
Haskins said the state has enough hydroxychloroquine to treat up to 100,000 people in either the registry or clinical arm of the study.
“The safety profile of the drug is continuing to be reviewed but with appropriate measures in place,” Malsam-Rysdon said, noting both the clinical and registry trials will likely go forward.
The Food and Drug Administration has cautioned against the use of hydroxychloroquine outside of hospital trials and warned about serious heart problems related to the drug’s use.
“Hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine have not been shown to be safe and effective for treating or preventing COVID-19,” the FDA states on its website. “They are being studied in clinical trials for COVID-19, and we authorized their temporary use during the pandemic for treatment of the virus in hospitalized patients when clinical trials are not available.”
The FDA’s authorization of their temporary use came through an Emergency Use Authorization, and the drug was supplied to the state from the Strategic National Stockpile.
Haskins also clarified in the email that COVID-19 patients can still be prescribed hydroxychloroquine if they, in conjunction with their doctor or health care provider, decide on the treatment.
“Speak to interpreters...” This is the problem. How about in this “New Normal” (vomit) we pay a tad bit more for pork, and AMERICANS work in a plant made more suitable for law abiding taxpaying workers. But i fear this pandemic will, for whatever reason, require MORE illegals to replace those now permanently on unemployment.
Once Trump speaks about anything it becomes unsafe.
Smithfield?
Aren’t they owned by China?
Maybe she will need an interpreter to speak with the bosses?
Interpreters are needed because the plant employs people who speak 40 different languages:
RE: Aren’t they owned by China?
Shuanghui Group, WH Group purchased Smithfield Foods in 2013 for $4.72 billion. That was before Noem became governor of South Dakota.
It was the largest Chinese acquisition of an American company to date.
The acquisition of Smithfield’s 146,000 acres of land made WH Group, headquartered in Luohe, Henan province, one of the largest overseas owners of American farmland.
Out of curiosity, I Googled Dr. Raoult. Among the first “hits” were an Esquire article calling him “the renegade scientist, another calling him “Trumpian,” and another calling him “controversial.”
Welcome to the Nuevo America most don’t ever see, but is key to our food supply now.
Crops, meat, poultry, eggs, milk — produced by various fresh immigrants making farm minimum wage (less than regular min. wage, like with tipped wait staff), most knowing little to no English (even after living in America for years).
Doing the work Americans won’t do — repetitive, messy, work the whole shift. The wage to attract Americans would add much to food costs.
Welcome to the Nuevo America most don’t ever see, but is key to our food supply now.
Fact is we do need some immigration.
I read that 40 different languages are spoken at that plant.
Smithfield - Owned by China?
M6 bet is its less about working conditions than living conditions.
And nobody’s talking about the latter...
Beside his efforts to return industries and services which had gone to China back to the the US .Opponents to the Chinese regime in power had its citizens protesting its policies , as in Hong Kong, since that change in American leadership. Wave the American flag and present his name when doing so.All of which presented those in power the need to destroy that leader Donald Trump
Would a runaway plague threaten populations of an enemy cause them to react by demanding extreme restriction of movement by its population to prevent its spread ? Thus wind up fragmenting its economy and create defeat for that leader’s upcoming election. Preventining the replacement of any industries from China
The way this whole thing developed starting with the Italian fashion industry areas controlled by the Chinese commies hit by a runaway CCWV (Chinese Communist Wuhan Virus) breakout occurred in Wuhan the politburo closed off Wuhan but did not warn the Italian Socialist government or the Pope with whom the Chinese government had good relations with.
But certainly violated it when the socialists should have been informed and allowed to deny those Chinese workers who replaced Italians in those factories taken over by the Chinese, travel to and from China particularly for their New Year while this was occurring. Which Trump did with the exception of only allowing American citizens returning.
Which also affected workers at the Chinese owned Smithfield Pork Processing and had the China backer US media charging racism but may have prevented an Italy from happening here .
Foreign owned?
Nationalize!
Exactly. There is a windmill plant in ND that had a similar outbreak. A bunch of refugees were working there. I said it was probably living conditions more than work conditions.
“Speak to interpreters...” This is the problem. How about in this “New Normal” (vomit) we pay a tad bit more for pork, and AMERICANS work in a plant made more suitable for law abiding taxpaying workers. But i fear this pandemic will, for whatever reason, require MORE illegals to replace those now permanently on unemployment.”””
IF ‘interpreters are needed’, then there had better be a deep cleaning out of illegals working there who don’t belong anywhere inside the USA.
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