Update: Smithfield Foods announced Thursday it is closing its Sioux Falls plant for three days after the outbreak was reported.

Earlier story:

More than 80 employees at a Sioux Falls food processing business have tested positive for the coronavirus, Health Secretary Kim Malsam-Rysdon confirmed Wednesday.

"There are a number of cases connected, that number has changed every day," Malsam-Rysdon said.

She added that the more than 80 confirmed cases were employees, and that number did not include others who may have become infected from those employees.

Malsam-Rysdon said they were continuing to use contact tracing — a process where those who may have been in close contact with an infected individual are monitored for signs of infection — with positive cases, and that "at this point we do not feel that there is a risk to folks outside of the individuals impacted."

Smithfield Foods, Inc. saw its first positive case on March 26, and nearly a week prior officials said the plant would maintain normal operations and would not close or send employees home amid the new coronavirus pandemic.

Smithfield's cases represent more than one-third of the total cases in the county and one-fifth of the cases in the state. Minnehaha County has 228 confirmed cases and South Dakota has 393.

On Wednesday morning, Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken noted "hot spots" for coronavirus spread in the city, but he would not confirm if Smithfield was one of those hot spots.

More:Where is coronavirus in South Dakota? View data on ages, counties and gender.

Smithfield has 3,600 employees in Sioux Falls and 40,000 nationwide.

Public officials in Sioux Falls and South Dakota attempted to assure the public Wednesday that Smithfield is taking the proper steps to ensure safety of both its employees and customers.

"We believe that the employer is taking appropriate action," Gov. Kristi Noem said during an afternoon news conference.

Earlier:Smithfield Foods employee tests positive for coronavirus

TenHaken said in an emailed statement to the Argus Leader late Wednesday afternoon that his office is in contact with Smithfield Foods and offering any support it can.

"The city is actively supporting the efforts of the state and Smithfield to reduce the spread of COVID-19," he wrote. "We’re in close communication with the leadership at Smithfield and the state and will continue to support both with resources they may need."

It’s unclear what additional steps Smithfield Foods is taking as a result of the outbreak in Sioux Falls.

Questions directed to Smithfield’s media and marketing department were not immediately answered Wednesday, but the company issued a statement later in the day saying it's "instituted a series of stringent and detailed processes and protocols" to follow CDC guidelines.

"These include mandatory 14-day COVID-19 related quarantines with pay as an uncompromising effort to protect our dedicated employees," said Keira Lombardo, Smithfield's executive vice president of corporate affairs and compliance. "We’ve also relaxed attendance policies to eliminate any punitive effect for missing work due to COVID-19 diagnosis or quarantine."

Around the country, meat packing plants have temporarily closed or shifted operations after COVID-19 cases spiked there. For instance, Tyson Foods, Inc. closed some plants in Iowa earlier this week after dozens of workers tested positive for the novel coronavirus. And JBS Beef in Pennsylvania scaled back hours of production after employees their began spreading the disease among one other.

Guidelines from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and President Donald Trump consider meat packers "critical infrastructure industry" that need to remain open during the pandemic.

Earlier:Here's why Sioux Falls' meatpacking plant won't close during COVID-19 pandemic

Dr. Dustin Oedekoven, the state veterinarian for South Dakota and the executive secretary for the South Dakota Animal Industry Board overseeing animal and public health and food safety, told the Argus Leader that continuing operations at the not just the plant in Sioux Falls but those across the state is paramount amid a pandemic so as not to slow food production or further disrupt the economy for South Dakota meat producers.

“It’s such a big impact to our economy to keep those plants open,” he said. “If we cannot get finished animals to slaughter, you start having real issues and backups in the farms.”

While COVID-19 is new, coronavirus strains typically found in animals are not, he said. That’s why Oedekoven and the food safety industry is confident consumers during the pandemic are not at risk of being infected through the meat products.

“What we know about coronaviruses is they are not a food born illness,” he said. “There’s no risk or concern for a foodborne illness.”