(CNN) As Covid-19 devastated the workforce at some of the nation's largest meat-processing plants, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told lawmakers recently that workers' lifestyles exacerbated the spread of the disease inside the plants. Azar's observation, made during a call with members of Congress late last month, suggested the spread was not due to conditions inside the plant, according to a source familiar with the comments. Azar told a bipartisan group of lawmakers on the April 28 call that the "home and social" aspects of workers' lives have played the greatest role in accelerating outbreaks of coronavirus among meat-packing employees, the source said. Democratic Rep. Abby Finkenauer, who represents many meat packing employees in her Iowa district, says Azar owes her constituents an apology for his "disrespectful" and "out of touch" comments. "I am heartbroken to hear somebody to talk like that about people who are working their tails off every day, quite literally putting food on his table," Finkenauer told CNN in a phone interview Thursday afternoon.

Source: CNN May 07, 2020 19:55 UTC