Good evening. Thank you for joining us. President trump today outlining a plan to reopen america. One of the requirements, states will have to go two weeks without seeing a rise in covid19 cases. Tonight, thats a challenge south dakota is now struggling to contain. Heres my nightline coanchor, juju chang. Reporter far from the hellish hospital scenes in new york city, nestled in the nations heartland, sioux falls, south dakota. Now home to one of the biggest covid19 clusters in the u. S. The epicenter at this smith d19d pork Processing Plant wit of rk, employing 40,000 people across the country, forced to shut down the sioux falls plant this week. Some employees say theyve been worried for weeks about their health and their families. Was there a lot of fear among your coworkers . Of course, everybody was with a lot of fear to go to work every single day. Reporter and so what made them go to work . That they dont want to lose their jobs. Reporter the outbreak outlining the protection of workers while maintaining the countrys food chain remains secure. For me, one person wasnt enough to shut it down, because we have a lot of contact, you know. Reporter she didnt want to reveal her name, even after quitting last week, after having worked there, she says, for more than ten years. I was thinking that it was not a safe place to work. And especially to preseotect my family. Reporter what made you think it wasnt safe . There is no social distance. We are working all together. We are working in lines. Reporter one foot asmart pao feet asmart. No. A few inches. Reporter she says they were a Good Employer with a 401 k but for her the risks were no longer worth the benefits. They told us in the first meeting that we are essential workers and we need to keep working to provide all the food to the tables, but, at the same point, we are humans. We need to be healthy to keep working. Reporter last week people took to the streets in sioux falls to bring attention to workers safety concerns. Everybody was afraid that if they didnt get protective gear soon that it was going to escalate. So we felt that we needed to be the voice of the working company here. Reporter for nancy reynosa, a Community Organizer and founder of kay pawsa sioux falls, its personal. Any other time its not a problem. But we have covid19, and weve known this for several months, the problem is were trying to social distance, and we have people working in close contact with each other, shoulder to shoulder, working for hours upon hours. Reporter the citys mayor, paul tanhacken was also beginning to sound the alarm. The course has grown over the course of four or five days. Reporter south dakota is one of nine states issuing no stay at home orders. Instead, the governor urging constituents to stay home. We have seen such an outstanding call to action among the people of south dakota. The way people have stepped up in south dakota and taken it seriously has been phenomenal. Reporter governor nome has said south dakota is not new york but as you point out is one of the single biggest clusters in the country right now. I dont like making the news for being a county and a city growing at the rate we are growing. Reporter last friday, smith field announced it would shut the plant down for three days in order to clean the facility. Then on sunday, the company declared it would suspend operations at the plant until further notice. This virus can spread so unbelievably quick. And i think smith field would agree with this, that it snuck up on them like it snuck up on a lot of other businesses. Two cases can turn into ten can turn into 50 like that. Reporter smithfield issuing a statement raidieading in part unfortunately, covid19 cases are now ubiquitous across the country. We have continued to run our facilities for one reason, to sustain our nations food supply during the pandemic. The company says it will continue to compensate its employees for the next two weeks. Smithfield isnt alone. Several of the nations biggest meat and poultry suppliers have been stricken with covid cases. Tyson was forced to close after workers were sickened. The company said they were deeply saddened by the loss of two team members. Both smith field and tiesyson s theyve issued social distancing in their plant, some measures include protective gear and plexiglass barriers between team members. But beyond the factory, the mayor is taking it a step further. Were taking positions right now on a municipal level to potentially look at shelter in place orders and things we can do on a city level and take action on a local level, at least try. Our thanks to juju. Weve seen how a Health Problem can affect the meat supply. Now many factories enforcing extra precautions so they wont be next. One of them, purdue. I spoke to the chairman of purdue farms. Thanks so much for joining us. I saw earlier the long list of measures your companys taking to keep your employees safe. Can you just share a couple of those with our audience please . We have a couple advantages. We have Wellness Centers in all our plants. These are buildings in the plant staffed by nurses and doctors from the local community. And were utilizing them a lot right now. Secondly, we have a tremendous cleaning, eighthour cleaning shift every day. And the plant has to be inspected by the usda in order to run. So it starts off very clean. When our associates come to work now, they go through a temperate inar seov, masks, enter the facility. We took doors off, knobs off and put partitions between each worker to mitigate contact. Ive abeen to your plants and i know how communal the work can be. How challenge something that to implement social distancing at your plants . It is a challenge. Thats why i think as an industry were very innovative as an industry. And so we used to debone a lot more chicken breasts. So the consumer may have to put up with a bonein breast like my grandmother used to deal with. That way you dont have to have as many pimozide by side trimming, and can you help with the distancing issue. I know my aunts in North Carolina will be happy to hear about the bonein chicken that you will be putting out now. How is purdue responding to americans who might be facing Food Insecurity at this time . You know, our facilities are in somewhat rural areas. Where maybe there isnt as much access to Grocery Stores and that sort of thing. So number one, something our associates told us, they dont have time to go shopping for food. So we give them chicken every week when they go home. Secondly, were sending trucks to all of the communities where we have operations, and we sell at wholesale, and so when we alternate that each week. Jim purdue, chairman of purdue farms. Thank you, sir. We wish you, your family, your company continued grace. Thank you so much. And you, too, byron, thank you. Up next, why some of our most vulnerable workers in the front lines of covid19 are saying enough is enough. Puberty means personal space. So sports clothes sit around doing a little growing of their own. Ohhh. Ahhgh. So imagine how we cheered when we found tide pods sport. Finally something more powerful than the funk. Bye. I love you too he didnt say that. Tide sport removes even weekold sweat odor. If its got to be clean, its got to be tide. Hey allergy muddlers. Achoo . Do your sneezes turn heads . Try zyrtec. It starts working hard at hour one. And works twice as hard when you take it again the next day. Zyrtec muddle no more. 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Now theyre cutting our hours and essential work ares. Now we were just burger flippers who should go to college and get a job. Now were keeping the economy floating. Weve been important. People fail to realize it. With millions of americans staying home, workers like adrianna are feeding america, staffing drive luthrough window and fulfilling Grocery Store orders. Some say theyre doing their jobs without the protections they need to keep themselves and their customers safe. We deserve hazard pay, paid sick leave. Were risking going to work and getting paid the same poverty wages and i dont think that as fair. Shes part of the fight for 15 movement, starting out advocating raising the minimum wage to 15. Since the pandemic, the group has started strikes around the country. Ive been working here for 14 years. I just walked off my job and went on strike today. I am the guy who is in the drive through. Yesterday the group helped organize an online strike of mcdonalds workers, including adrianna. This is life or death. Someone in california, at least three people in california have had covid cases, and one of them is fighting for her life on a ventilator. That person is sonya hernandez, jennifer hernandezs mother. Shes a loving mom. She gave everything for us. She was a single mom for us. And she worked at mcdonalds for 18 years. It was her job at mcdonalds that allowed sonya to provide for her family. Jennifer says sonya at the time wasnt given gloves or face mask at work. She began feeling ill in march but continued to work. She tested positive for covid19 in early april, after her health took a turn for the worse. My cousin, she texted me that there were going to take my mom to the hospital. My mom called us, like my brothers and my sister and me. She called us saying that she was going to have to go in the ventilator, and they were going to put her under sedation. That was the last call jennifer had with her mother. She told me, i want you guys to take care, and i want you to take care of the kids. That was before she was put in the machine. Take care of everyone. Sonya is now in critical condition. We have to make the decision if she, if her heart stops, what, if we want them to resuscitate her or to just let her leave in peace. Peace. Peac. P an employee from the park store asks in part that the companies instruct all the workers who were exposed directly or indirectly to selfquarantine. Mcdonalds said when they were notified of the covid19 diagnosis, they immediately reached out to four other crew members that had come in close contact with the employee, instructing them to selfquarantine for 14 days, and that the restaurant was closed overnight for routine deep cleaning. The workers, i would say, you know, just fight for your right. Because todays my mom. Tomorrow, i dont know. It could be theirs or it could be them. Mcdonalds telling abc news theyve changed nearly 50 processes since february, including adding Employee Wellness and temperature checks and are confident employees impacted by the virus are receiving paid sick leave. They are also exploring hero pay bonuses, adding our number one priority is the health and wellbeing of our people. If you feel like youre doing the appropriate measures to keep us safe, then come on down and work with us. Come on down. So that they can see exactly what we have to go through and how anxious we feel, just to be at work. But if were not at work we cant feed our kids. We cant feed our families. We cant feed ourselves. Its not just fast food workers raising their voices. Gig workers have claimed to be unsafe on the job as well. Vanessa bain walked off her job as an Instacart Shopper despite her job being more in demand. The underlying crisis is that, you know, more work than ever is precarious. People dont have savings accounts. People are not in a position where theyre earning income that is in surplus to their expenses. We turned off the app. We asked for the, you know, the ppes, which, you know, that was the last thing they gave in to, but then again, like i said, they didnt make them readily available. By some estimates, more than a third of u. S. Workers are a part of the gig economy. And what a lot of companies have done to get around paying greater amounts of benefits to their employees is hiring gig workers. But ultimately, what were seeing through this crisis is how perilous a gigworking job is. Instacart said over the past few weeks they have consistently, proactively communicated with the Shopper Community to make sure they have the support they need, and they have secured health and safety kits to distribute to shoppers across the community. Earlier this week, senator Elizabeth Warren and ro khannaha introduced a bill for workers that could be in the next federal relief package. They dont listen to us if its just one person. The more people, the more power we have. And up next for us, the mom fighting covid19 who gave birth while in a coma. Your mom wants to meet you. My tiny little angel. Thought i g my moderate to severe Crohns Disease. Until i realized something was missing. Me. You ok, sis . My symptoms were keeping me from really being there for my sisters. announcement final boarding for flight 2007 to chicago so i talked to my doctor and learned humira is for people who still have symptoms of Crohns Disease after trying other medications. And the majority of people on humira saw significant symptom relief and many achieved remission in as little as 4 weeks. Hserious and sometimes fatalon infections, including tuberculosis, and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened, as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. Tell your doctor if youve been to areas where certain fungal infections are common and if youve had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flulike symptoms or sores. Dont start humira if you have an infection. Be there for you, and them. Ask your gastroenterologist about humira. With humira, remission is possible. Did you know that febreze air effects uses 100 natural propellant . Cheaper aerosols use artificial propellants. Thats why febreze works differently. Plus, it eliminates odors with a waterbased formula and no dyes. For freshness youll enjoy. We know how important it is to have a safe, reliable vehicle right now. So toyota is here to help. To ensure your toyota is in top condition, many Toyota Service centers are open to serve you with certified technicians and genuine toyota parts. And many even offer Online Service scheduling and nocontact vehicle dropoff. Were here for you. Contact your local toyota dealer to see how they can help. Toyota only roomba i7 uses two multisurface rubber brushes. They can help. And picks up more pet hair than other robot vacuums. And the filter captures 99 of dog and cat allergens. If its not from irobot, its not a roomba™. Whaso lets do the rightver chanthing, today. Ow. Lets stay at home. Lets wash up. Lets always keep our distance please, six feet apart at least. Lets look after ourselves, as well as others. It will all be worth it. We can all do our part. So those on the front line can do their part. And when this is over, we will all, continue, to thrive. And finally tonight, the moment to embrace. Thats 27yearold respiratory therapist, angela, holding her 15dayold daughter for the first time. When she was more than 30 weeks pregnant she was hospitalized with covid19 and put on a ventilator. Her doctors made the difficult decision to deliver the baby while angela was still in a medicallyinduced coma. Even after recovery, leaving the icu, it was days before she could see her daughter. The world wants to meet you, my tiny little angel. She is so petite and so little. The babys name . Ava. For breath of life. How wonderful is that . It was 17th century french philosopher who said out of difficulties grow miracles. Thats nightline for this evening, thanks for the company, america, see you right back here tomorrow night, same time. Goodnight. Ba, da, ba, ba, da, ba, ba, da,ba ba, da, ba, ba, da, ba, ba, da,ba Jimmy Kimmel Live this is ridiculous. From his house jimmy hello and welcome to my home. Im dr. Sanjay gupta. I think. Right . I could be him. Im honestly not sure anymore. Im in a house doing a show, to no one. Im starting to understand why mr. Rogers started using puppets. A special hello to those of you who watched the disney family sing along tonight. I dont know about you, but for me every day is a disney family sing along. Today marks one full month since kids have been home from school here in los angeles. More than anything, i miss that rush of endorphins you feel when the car door slams shut, and you peel out of the preschool parking lot like a duke of hazzard. My cousin sal and his wife decided theyre sending their kids back to school on may 1st no matter what. Even if its closed. If its closed, they can hang out by the hopscotch area until three oclock. There is word now that students may take the sat and act tests from home this year. Wow, if only Felicity Huffman had waited