"Where's the beef?"

In the Neon Nettle blog, Jay Greenberg reports,

The coronavirus pandemic-triggered meat shortage is starting to hit Americans hard as grocery stores Costco and Kroger announce a new rationing policy, while fast-food giant Wendy's has stopped selling burgers altogether.Wendy's restaurant has been forced to remove burgers from the menu in some locations, citing a meat shortage amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Over 20 meatpacking plants have shuttered following COVID-19 outbreaks among employees.At least 20 workers have died and at least 5,000 workers have tested positive for the virus. As of April 27, 4,913 meat and poultry plant workers in 115 plants in 19 states had been diagnosed with COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report. Three of the country's biggest pork processing plants – Smithfield Foods in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, JBS pork processing in Worthington, Minnesota, and Tyson Fresh Foods in Waterloo, Iowa have shut down.Together they account for 15 percent of pork production. Last week President Donald Trump invoked an executive order to keep plants open and prevent a further meat shortage.

Read more here.