Johnston, Iowa – Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds ordered residents in northeastern Iowa to practice stricter social distancing last Thursday as she confirmed that workers at a second Tyson Foods plant are infected with the coronavirus.

Reynolds said she was banning nearly all gatherings in the region that includes Cedar Rapids, Waterloo and Dubuque. She said the state was responding to reports of infections at a Tyson Foods pork processing plant in Waterloo. The state was sending supplies to test hundreds of workers at the facility, which remained open Thursday.

The goal is to “understand what the scope of the outbreak may be and to get in front of that,” Reynolds said. She did not directly respond to questions about whether she would order the plant closed, saying she trusted management to do “the right thing.”

Under the new order, residents in the northeastern region can only gather with household members and must do everything possible to stay 6 feet away from others in public. Weddings, funerals and other religious gatherings are exceptions and can include up to 10 people.

The order doesn’t close any more businesses, but directs employers to evaluate whether more workers can stay home and to take “reasonable precautions” to protect those who go in. Violating the order, which lasts through April 30, is a simple misdemeanor.

– Associated Press