JBS USA announced April 26 that it is temporarily closing its Green Bay, Wis., beef production facility. The facility processes 2,000 head per day and employs more than 1,200 people.

In partnership and consultation with the Wisconsin Department of Health Services and the Brown County Health & Human Services Department's Public Health Division, the company will advise its Green Bay team members to follow Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers’ “Safer at Home Order” while the plant is closed.

Amid the spreading pandemic, JBS USA said it is striving to provide the safest working environment possible for its team members who are providing food for the nation during these unprecedented times. The company’s efforts to combat COVID-19 continue to evolve as new information from medical experts becomes available. JBS USA said it will pay its team members during the plant closure.

“As an essential business providing necessary supplies and services for Wisconsin, we have endeavored to maintain operations to ensure continued access to safe, affordable food,” said Shannon Grassl, president of the JBS USA Regional Beef. “Given the continued spread of coronavirus in our community and among our workforce, we have decided to voluntarily close our Green Bay facility in an effort to help flatten the curve of infections in Brown County. We’ve been focused on doing everything we can to keep the virus out of our facility, but we believe a temporary closure is the most aggressive action we can take to help our community collectively slow the spread of COVID-19.”

JBS USA operates more than 60 meat, poultry and prepared foods facilities across the U.S. The Green Bay beef facility is the fourth JBS USA plant to temporarily close to help slow community spread, joining the Souderton, Pa., beef production facility and the Greeley, Colo., beef production facility, both of which have reopened, and the Worthington, Minn., pork facility that remains closed.