Coronavirus in rural America (Part XCIV): speeding up poultry processing production lines

Hard to know whether to classify this under "coronavirus" posts-- or to "file" elsewhere, but the Bloomberg headline from yesterday is "Trump Makes Last Push to Speed Up Chicken Lines Despite Pandemic."  Mike Dorning and Michael Hirtzer report for Bloomberg News.    Here are the first few paragraphs:

Coronavirus cases are rising, but the Trump administration is making its last push to allow chicken slaughterhouses to speed up production lines, potentially threatening social distancing that’s crucial to keeping workers safe.

Three days after President Donald Trump lost his re-election bid, the U.S. Department of Agriculture submitted a proposal to raise the maximum line speed by 25% to the White House Office of Management and Budget for review. That’s typically the last step before a proposed regulation is published.

The move risks bringing back a wave of coronavirus infections that shut several meat plants earlier this year just as the winter kicks in and cases surge across the U.S. Critics also say it’s a lame-duck payoff to poultry producers that have been long-time supporters of Trump, who is fighting to keep office. It’s unclear if a final rule could be issued before President-elect Joe Biden takes over.