Meat shortages and antibody tests in the US stores

Besides restarting economy and reopening stores, meat shortages are the main topics in the US. New York state conducting coronavirus tests at grocery stores to to reach a larger swath of the Empire State’s population.

Slowdown of meat supply in the US

The meat shortages have come sooner than expected, likely thanks to the hoarders said New Your Post. Costco on Monday said it will be limiting customers to just three packages of meat per shopper, while Kroger supermarkets posted an alert on the meat section of its website warning that it may have limited inventory “due to high demand.” Kroger said last Friday that it would limit purchases of pork and ground beef at unspecified stores. H-E-B and Albertsons are limiting the amount of meat and poultry customers at some locations.

Grocers have been bracing for meat in mid-May as major meat processing plants, including Tyson Foods, have been forced to shut down production. But the shortages appear to have come earlier than expected as consumers worried about the meat shortage have been stocking up

Coronavirus tests at grocery stores

Based on New York Post article Gov. Cuomo has begun recruiting grocery stores in a bid to widen the state’s coronavirus testing program. The antibody tests are now being administered at an undisclosed number of supermarkets statewide to get random sampling of the population.

Among those participating are several Fine Fare supermarkets in the Bronx and Brooklyn, each of which has administered upwards of 200 antibody tests a day inside the stores, said Rudy Fuertes, president of Fteley Food Corp., which operates 10 Fine Fare locations in the Big Apple.

State health workers are setting up shop at long tables inside the stores, administering tests that draw blood from five fingers. The results are sent directly to participants via e-mail or a phone call. Fine Fare’s Fuertes believes about 30 percent of his employees tested positive for coronavirus based on the fact that nearly 100 percent of his managers in each store tested positive.

Officials of the state’s Department of Health said they have tested some 8,000 people over the past two weeks, including 3,000 random samples from the general population. Results show that nearly a quarter of New York City residents have had coronavirus. Infection rates in Westchester and Rockland counties have run at 15.1 percent as of this week. Long Island had a 14.4 percent infection rate. Outside of those regions, the state average is 3.2 percent, officials said.

“The tests are bringing hope to our community,” Fuertes said.

Ildikó Kátai