HOLLAND (WHTC-AM/FM) — Allegan County Health Department is dealing with a COVID-19 hotspot: JBS, 33 11th St. in Plainwell, Allegan County health officials say 60 of 1,000 employees have tested positive, so far.
For weeks, Allegan County testing has lagged, reaching a total of just 300 over the weekend. Yesterday, April 20, 2020, health officials reported 477 tests completed, a jump of nearly 200.
For the third day, only 42 people diagnosed with the virus; two are waiting on results. Many more, 78, are being monitored for symptoms of the sometimes aggressive upper-respiratory virus.
JBS, a beef-processing plant that’s operated near Plainwell for nearly 100 years, shuttered for a weekend cleaning and reopened Monday, April 20, 2020, with a small staff.
Ten of the ill workers live in Allegan County. Health officials won’t say where the other 50 live, but Allegan has five adjacent counties: Kent, West Michigan’s hotspot with 550 people confirmed to have COVID-19, and 24 who’ve died from it. In Kalamazoo county, 185 people have been diagnosed with the virus and nine have died. Ottawa County health officials report 124 people with the virus, seven dead; Van Buren, with 33 cases, two dead; and Barry, with 26 cases and one death blamed on COVID-19.
