Snow, strong winds and slippery roads

Good morning and welcome to a blustery Sunday. Here’s what you need to know to get your day rolling.

COVID-19 forces closure of large South Dakota pork processor. Smithfield Foods announced Sunday it is shuttering its massive processing plant indefinitely after 230 employees tested positive for COVID-19. "The closure of this facility, combined with a growing list of other protein plants that have shuttered across our industry, is pushing our country perilously close to the edge in terms of our meat supply,’’ said CEO Ken Sullivan in a press release. The plant produces nearly 130 million servings of food each week — about 4 to 5 percent of U.S. pork production.

No, you don’t need to disinfect your groceries. NPR asked the experts how we can stay safe while venturing out to shop for groceries during the pandemic. Here is what they had to say.

‘Everything broke loose.’ Dr. Michael Saag studies diseases for a living. The epidemiologist at the University of Alabama, Birmingham, specializes in HIV and AIDS research, so he's familiar with the toll a deadly infection can take on the human body. No amount of study, however, could have adequately prepared him for having the coronavirus himself. Here’s his conversation with NPR’s Scott Simon.

Love in the time of a pandemic. It wasn’t quite the wedding that Alex Lee and Kelsey Christiansen had planned. But on Saturday, the couple married in a small St. Paul photo studio. The only guests were the officiant, a photographer and two witnesses. All except the couple stood six feet apart, reports Jon Collins. MPR News photojournalist Christine Nguyen photographed the couple’s drive-by reception.

Dear Stranger. This annual Oregon letter-writing campaign, sponsored by Oregon Humanities, is about connecting strangers one letter at a time. It has seen a surge in interest during the coronavirus pandemic. Read some of this year’s letters or write one yourself.

How are you connecting with people you don't live with during the stay-at-home order? Tell us here and we may feature it in an upcoming story.

We hope you are staying healthy and safe.