A SERIOUS coronavirus outbreak at an Asda meat-processing plant has left at least 150 staff infected, says the West Yorkshire factory. Mobile testing tents have been set up outside Kober Ltd near Cleckheaton, which supplies the supermarket giant with bacon rashers and joints. ⚠️ Read our coronavirus live blog for the latest news & updates The temporary […]
A SERIOUS coronavirus outbreak at an Asda meat-processing plant has left at least 150 staff infected, says the West Yorkshire factory.
Mobile testing tents have been set up outside Kober Ltd near Cleckheaton, which supplies the supermarket giant with bacon rashers and joints.
Read our coronavirus live blog for the latest news & updates
The temporary shutdown of the Yorkshire plant follows further outbreaks in food processing sites in Anglesey and Wrexham in North Wales.
Asda confirmed that its subsidiary, Kober, had decided to close the plant in response to the infections.
But local doctors and officials were left fuming when Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced the cluster of cases in the Kirklees area during Thursday’s daily Downing Street news conference.
It was the first time that the community had been made aware of the huge outbreak.
Dr Jools Thomas said on Twitter: “Watching the health secretary daily briefing slack jawed … he keeps saying there’s an outbreak in Kirklees.
“As a GP in Kirklees it would be nice to be aware of this from a formal source instead of hearing it on the news!!”
Tracey Brabin, Labour MP for Batley and Spen, added: “Just astounding that the Health Secretary would announce a #Covid_19 outbreak in @KirkleesCouncil during the #dailybriefing without discussing the possible ramifications for the council.
“Thoughtless, sloppy and unhelpful.”
She said: “My anger is the way we were thrown to the wolves in that way.”
But Brabin added: “No one in Kirklees should be concerned.
“Having spoken to the council they’ve acted very swiftly; I’m proud of them but I’m really frustrated Matt Hancock took it on himself to announce it like that.”
Hancock told the Thursday briefing that the manual tracing system had helped to control local outbreaks in “parts of Leicester” and Kirklees, West Yorkshire, with mobile testing units sent in to help track down positive cases.
Asda later confirmed that its subsidiary, Kober, had taken the decision to voluntarily close the Cleckheaton plant.
The firm said: “As soon as we became aware that some colleagues at our Kober site may have Covid-19, we responded swiftly and worked collaboratively with the local authority and Public Health England to test all colleagues.
“We have existing strict safety measures in place on the site; however, as a precautionary measure we have voluntarily closed the site to protect colleagues and prevent any further transmission.
“Colleagues who need to self-isolate will receive full pay and we aim to reopen the facility early next week.
“We’re grateful to Kirklees Council and Public Health England for their support through this process.”
Director of public health at Kirklees Council, Rachel Spencer-Henshall, said: “We were made aware of a number of positive cases of COVID-19 at a workplace in Kirklees.
“We have been providing support and advice to both the management and employees in order to minimise any further transmission.”
Kober is the second Yorkshire meat factory to confirm a coronavirus outbreak.
Cranswick Convenience Foods in Wombwell, Barnsley, South Yorks., which also processes bacon, had nine confirmed cases in the spring.
Three workers died and all but two were hospitalised.
News of the closure of the Cleckheaton plant came as it was confirmed that staff at a chicken processing plant in North Wales have been asked to self-isolate for two weeks after 58 cases of coronavirus.
Production was halted at the 2 Sisters factory in Llangefni, Anglesey, on Thursday after the Covid-19 outbreak was declared.
And in Wrexham, North Wales, 38 staff at the Rowan Foods factory tested positive for the virus, but bosses said the cases reflected an increase in the locality rather than a spread within the site.
In a statement, the 2 Sisters Food Group said the first reported positive case at its plant was on May 28 and a full “safe ways of working” action plan had been in place since early March.
Production at the factory, where 560 people are employed, will be transferred to other company locations until July 2.
2 Sisters Food Group is one of the largest food producers in the UK, with brands including Fox’s Biscuits and Holland’s Pies, and customers such as supermarkets, KFC and Marks & Spencer.
A spokesman for Oscar Mayer, which runs the Rowan Foods plant, said a track and trace process had been implemented at the Wrexham factory, which prepares foods for supermarkets and chains including Greggs and Subway.
Thirty-eight staff from the workforce of 1,500 were absent after testing positive for Covid-19 but none were seriously ill or admitted to hospital, the spokesman said.
