SUNLAND PARK, N.M. – New Mexico officials have ordered a meat processing plant in the southern portion of the state shuttered for two weeks due to a novel coronavirus outbreak at the facility.
The New Mexico Environment Department announced Wednesday that Stampede Meat Inc. was among three businesses that must shut down for 14 days as a result of at least four recent responses by state health teams to COVID-19 infections among employees.
According to KFOX, the facility reported a total of six employee infections between Oct. 26 and Oct. 28, prompting the plant’s immediate two-week closure.
Meanwhile, the state also identified both Deming Manufactured Homes in Deming and Chaparral Materials in Santa Fe for temporary closures, KVIA reported.
Wednesday’s announcement marks Stampede’s second significant COVID-19 outbreak since the pandemic began. According to KVIA, more than 50 employee infections were reported at the facility in May.
The Illinois-based company took over the former Tyson Foods location in Sundland Park in 2018, launching operations with 300 employees and plans to boost that figure to nearly 1,300 by 2024, the TV station reported.
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