Smithfield Foods in Sioux Falls has now been identified as a hot spot for coronavirus, but it’s also a hot topic on social media.

Wednesday the state health department said Smithfield Foods had over 80 employees who tested positive for COVID-19.

Thursday the meatpacking plant announced it will close for three days from April 11-13

so it can sanitize and review how it’s keeping its employees safe.

But this closure will also have an impact on the country’s food supply.

Smithfield’s CEO and Sioux Falls’ plant manager had a heated conversation on the phone today with Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken about its coronavirus outbreak, which now makes it one of the country’s hotspots.

“They’re mad, I’m mad, it’s tense,” TenHaken said.

Mayor TenHaken says that’s because the meatpacking plant is being told by the federal government to stay open to not disrupt the food supply.

“All you have to do is go to a grocery store or go to a meat counter and see the limited supply in front of you and you’ll understand there’s a reason why our meatpacking ag processing facilities are critical and being told by the federal government please stay open,” TenHaken said.

TenHaken says Smithfield is taking the outbreak seriously and has been told the company will do all it can to stop the spread of COVID-19 among its 3,700 employees. But the mayor says he’s more concerned about what happens outside the plant.

“I believe for good reason that the spread we are seeing at Smithfield isn’t necessarily happening at the plant itself, it’s happening when people leave the plant and go home,” TenHaken said.

The city health department is especially concerned about the Hispanic and Nepali communities at the plant who the mayor says has been hit hard by the virus. The city is now working closely with those populations to better communicate the importance of good hygiene and social distancing.

“A piece of good news is if you look at the growth of cases in our community over the last few days and if you could just remove the Smithfield outbreak we’ve seen pretty minimal growth in Minnehaha and Lincoln Counties, so that’s encouraging,” TenHaken said.

TenHaken says he’ll wait and see what happens at Smithfield after the three-day shutdown before he decides if more drastic measures need to be taken.

The United Food and Commercial Workers, the union representing Smithfield, has issued a statement concerning the outbreak.

Full statement from Union