GREEN BAY - Adriana Cortes cheered the decision to close JBS Packerland earlier this week.

The coronavirus outbreak at the east-side meat processing facility infiltrated Cortes' family. Her mom and uncle, both JBS employees, tested positive for the virus, as did her pregnant sister. Cortes' mom now struggles to breathe while doing household chores, she said.

“You keep hearing in the news people are dying left and right," said Cortes, who lives in Texas. "It’s just shocking, and you feel like you can’t do anything. Your anxiety levels go up."

JBS shut down its Green Bay plant on Sunday in response to the spread of coronavirus that has sickened more than 250 workers. Now, the Greeley, Colo.-based company may have no choice but to reopen the Green Bay plant after President Donald Trump on Tuesday ordered meat-processing plants to continue to operate during the coronavirus pandemic.

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Trump's order requires beef, pork and poultry facilities to stay open "to ensure a continued supply of protein for Americans," even as several major meat producers face scrutiny over their handling of COVID-19. The president also wants to ensure plants aren't legally liable for employees who get sick at work.

It is not yet clear how or when the order will impact JBS' Green Bay plant. A company spokesman did not answer questions about whether the facility would reopen, instead thanking the Trump administration for "acknowledging the important role food companies serve."

"The men and women who feed America have gone unnoticed for far too long," spokesman Cameron Bruett said in a statement. "The country is now rightly focused on their essential role in keeping grocery shelves stocked and helping feed families across our nation every day. Their health and safety remains our primary focus."

JBS announced Wednesday that it would reopen its Worthington, Minnesota, facility in a limited capacity after shuttering it on April 20.

The company's Green Bay plant is one of three Brown County meat processing plants that have been tied to coronavirus outbreaks. At the same time, the county has surpassed Milwaukee County in having Wisconsin's highest infection rate with nearly four cases for every 1,000 residents.

As of Wednesday, 262 employees at JBS had tested positive for COVID-19, along with 86 people linked to the plant. Nearly 200 cases have been traced to American Foods Group in Green Bay, and 35 employees at Salm Partners in Denmark also contracted the virus.

In total, Brown County has confirmed 968 cases of COVID-19 and another seven have been identified in the Oneida Nation.

'The cat was already out of the bag'

County officials say they will continue working with state and federal agencies to ensure Green Bay meat-processing companies follow guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Trump's order is aimed at stabilizing food supply and distribution amid a decrease in production that some worry could lead to a meat shortage.

But worker rights advocates like Milwaukee-based Voces de La Frontera blasted Trump's order, saying it forces the facilities to operate even though the companies have failed to protect employees.

“This is irresponsible because too many meat plants have already become virus hotspots as a result of the companies not implementing proper health guidelines quickly," Executive Director Christine Neumann-Ortiz said in a statement. "We have no confidence that these same companies will do the right thing if forced to reopen."

Dr. Paul Casey, the emergency services director at Bellin Hospital, said half the patients admitted to Bellin with COVID-19 have been connected to JBS or American Foods, as were most people who came to the the hospital's emergency department for testing.

“The cat was already out of the bag,” when JBS decided to shut down the plant, he said.

Still, Casey thinks JBS could open safely if the company continues to test people and implements other precautions.

"We’ve got to make sure we do it safely," he said.

Cortes believes JBS moved too slowly and didn't do enough to help workers when the virus began to spread in the plant. Instead of checking on her sick family, she said, the company sent a text message to employees on April 16 offering a free T-shirt, ground beef and toilet paper. She showed the Green Bay Press-Gazette a screenshot of the message.

If JBS reopens, Cortes' parents won't be able to return to work until at least May 10 per their doctor's orders, she said. And she hopes the situation is vastly different when they do.

"Moving forward the employees and families deserve safe working standards so they may go back to work," Cortes said.

USA TODAY contributed to this report.

Contact Haley BeMiller at hbemiller@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @haleybemiller.