The company at the center of one of the biggest Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreaks in America is launching a new bonus program for its more than 40,000 workers nationwide.

Smithfield Foods is pledging $100 million to what it calls a 'Responsibility Bonus' to all its hourly production and distribution center employees. The company says its part of the #ThankAFoodWorker program.

A press release on the company's website says Smithfield employees who miss work due to COVID-19 exposure or diagnosis will receive a portion of the bonus.

In the last month at the Virginia-based company's Sioux Falls pork production plant, nearly 800 employees have tested positive for coronavirus. Two of those employees are among the nine South Dakotans who have passed away from COVID-19.

The Sioux Falls facility has been temporarily closed since April 12. That was followed two days later by the closure of Smithfield plants in Missouri and Wisconsin.


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