You're listening to shortwave from MPR.

Maddie, Sify here with Dan Charles, Food and Agriculture Correspondent. Hey, Dan.

Hey, Maddie. So, Dan, you've been following outbreaks of the coronavirus in meat-packing plants across the country.

Yeah, these have been some of the biggest COVID-19 hot spots in the entire country.

More than 10,000 workers in these plants have been infected. Dozens of them have died.

And it really just started, you know, like, mid to the end of March.

Yeah, I mean, I specifically remember hearing about a plant in South Dakota, I think,

and how dire things were there.

Right. That was a Smithfield plant in Sioux Falls.

It was one of the first plants where this really became visible and obvious to people.

It's also a really big plant, one of the biggest pork processing plants in the country.

And, you know, there was this moment at the end of March, the beginning of April,

when the workers in this plant, they knew that some workers had gotten sick,

but the company was not saying how many, and the workers just felt really vulnerable.

They didn't have any protective gear, they didn't have any masks,

they didn't have anything that could protect them from getting sick at work.

This is Nancy Renosa.

Years ago, she worked at the plant. Now she runs a local news service in Sioux Falls for Spanish speakers.

She was getting calls from people. She got a call from one friend, in particular, she remembers.

I have a friend of mine that told his boss that he was going to quit,

because he followed afraid of her family.

And he said the words from his boss were that he was failing the American people by leaving.

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