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Worker From Congo Dies After COVID-19 Outbreak at Iowa Plant

Associated Press

   WATERLOO, IOWA - An immigrant from Congo who worked at the Tyson Foods
   pork processing plant in Waterloo has died of the coronavirus, the
   company confirmed Tuesday.

   The Congolese community in Waterloo has been mourning the death of Axel
   Kabeya, which several members announced Sunday on social media.

   A Congolese newspaper reported that Kabeya was one of the community's
   best-known figures in Waterloo, where hundreds of refugees have settled
   in recent years. He's survived by a wife and children. His age wasn't
   immediately available.

   Tyson Fresh Meats spokeswoman Liz Croston confirmed the death, saying
   the company was "deeply saddened by the loss of a team member at our
   Waterloo facility."

   The plant has had one of the largest coronavirus outbreaks in the
   nation, and more than 1,000 of its 2,800 workers have tested positive.
   After suspending production for two weeks, the plant reopened with new
   safety measures last week.

   Croston said Tyson is confirming only three deaths of Waterloo workers
   from coronavirus. Local officials say they can't release the number of
   workers who've died.

   Advocates and family members have said that at least four workers have
   died at the plant, Tyson's largest pork facility. After Kabeya, the
   others include a 65-year-old white man, a 60-year-old Latino man and a
   58-year-old Bosnian woman.