A further 18 workers at a Bernard Matthews turkey plant have tested positive for coronavirus, bringing the total to 36. As this news emerges over 170 people have tested positive for coronavirus at a meat processing plant in Cornwall.
Food production at the processing facility in Holton, near Halesworth in Suffolk, has not been affected by the outbreak.
The staff who tested positive are self-isolating at home, and 123 workers have so far been tested or are due to be tested.
Most have returned negative results.
As with the 18 positive cases announced on Monday, most of the 18 new positive cases announced on Wednesday concern workers who live in the Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft areas.
Stuart Keeble, Suffolk’s director of public health, said: “The swift and thorough work of our local contact tracers and staff, working alongside Bernard Matthews, has quickly identified these additional cases and we’ve been able to advise them to self-isolation straight away.”
Cornwall
More than 170 people have tested positive for coronavirus at a meat processing plant in Cornwall.
Most of the cases at the Pilgrim’s Pride food factory in Pool, near Redruth, were asymptomatic, the local public health team said.
An alert to the national test and trace service from a single member of staff led to 500 colleagues at the plant being tested.
The company says it has introduced additional measures and checks its compliance with Covid-19 controls on a daily basis.
A spokesperson for Pilgrim’s Pride added: “From the outset we have worked conscientiously to do all we can to protect our workforce and the local community.
“Our teams have been working extremely hard in collaboration with the local authority and public health to manage this challenging situation, and have bravely conducted themselves with professionalism and integrity as they continue to play their important role in maintaining the UK food supply chain.”
Related – Black people at twice the risk of Covid deaths linked to ‘structural problems” in society
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