You’ve no doubt noticed the barren meat sections at your local grocery store of late. Beef and chicken were long gone before your arrival. But pork was plentiful, at least in some places. That will change soon. One of the nation’s biggest pork producers, Smithfield, is shutting down its plant indefinitely. The Wall Street Journal reports, “Smithfield’s plant and other meatpacking facilities around the country have emerged as hot spots for Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus, with unions and advocacy groups warning that close quarters for workers on processing lines raise the risk of infection.”

As the number of cases grew at the Smithfield plant in Sioux Falls, concerns grew as well. CBS writes:

The plant, which employs about 3,700 people in the state’s largest city, has become a hotspot for infections. Health officials said Sunday that 293 of the 730 people who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in South Dakota work at the plant.

Gov. Kristi Noem and Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken, both Republicans, wrote a joint letter asking the plant to shut down while continuing to pay employees.

In a statement, Smithfield Chief Executive Ken Sullivan seemed to disagree with the closures:

“We have a stark choice as a nation: we are either going to produce food or not, even in the face of Covid-19… It is impossible to keep our grocery stores stocked if our plants are not running.”

“These facility closures will also have severe, perhaps disastrous, repercussions for many in the supply chain, first and foremost our nation’s livestock farmers.”

Reuters points out, “Other major U.S. meat and poultry processors, including Tyson Foods Inc (TSN.N), Cargill Inc [CARG.UL] and JBS USA [JBS.UL] have already idled plants in other states.”