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Tyson Foods Will Partner With Health Clinic Near Wilkesboro Plant

The Tyson Foods processing plant in Wilkesboro. KERI BROWN/WFDD

Tyson Foods will partner with a health clinic scheduled to open near its chicken-processing plant in Wilkesboro.

The clinic will be open to Tyson employees and their family members covered by the company's insurance plan. It will offer primary and preventive care, including health screenings and education.

The health clinic will be operated by Vermont-based Marathon Health, which will collaborate with Wilkesboro-area health care providers.

Meat-processing plants have been especially vulnerable to coronavirus exposure, with workers standing shoulder-to-shoulder on assembly lines.

The Winston-Salem Journal reports that Tyson confirmed 570 positive COVID-19 cases among full-time and contract employees in mid-May. Commuting workers led to an early outbreak of at least 70 cases in Forsyth County.

The outbreak at the Wilkesboro plant is thought to have been one of the largest industrial incidents in the state.

For the most up-to-date information on coronavirus in North Carolina, visit our Live Updates blog here. WFDD wants to hear your stories — connect with us and let us know what you're experiencing.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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