Government investigating Covid-19 outbreaks as Cleckheaton meat factory re-opens

Health Secretary Matt Hancock revealed how Kober, on Hanging Wood Way, in Cleckheaton, was home to a Covid-19 outbreak during his briefing last week.

Mobile testing tents were set up outside the factory, which supplies the supermarket giant with bacon rashers and joints.

Mr Hancock said: “I chaired a meeting of our local action committee, which is the formal process through which we make these decisions, working with leaders in Kirklees.”

It is not known how many staff tested positive for Covid-19 or if there have been any hospitalisations or deaths as a result.

Around 100 contacts of workers have since been traced after a ‘small number’ of cases.

Boris Johnson has admitted he is unsure what is causing outbreaks of coronavirus in meat processing plants.

The Prime Minister said one theory is that the cold environment in such factories may be helping Covid-19, while another is that staff could be 'congregating in such a way as to spread the virus'.

But he conceded that investigations are continuing in a bid to find a definitive answer.

In April, a Twitter user shared a photo of workers at the plant during a shift change, which showed groups congregating near parked cars appearing to be less than two metres apart.

Directors of public health said they were in the dark about what a local lockdown actually was, and whether they had the power to enact it.

Director of public health at Kirklees Council, Rachel Spencer-Henshall said: “We were made aware of a number of positive cases of Covid-19.

“We have been providing support and advice to both the management and employees in order to minimise any further transmission.”

A statement from Asda said: “We have worked collaboratively with Kirklees Council and Public Health England since the site closed over a week ago and they support our decision to re-open.

“The site will re-open on reduced capacity and only colleagues tested and declared fit to return will be on site.

"Colleagues self-isolating will continue to receive full pay until they return to work.

“While Kirklees Council were satisfied with our existing safety procedures, we have introduced additional measures, including separation of colleagues on shifts and checking temperatures before they enter the site.”

In total, two hundred cases of coronavirus have been confirmed at two Sisters chicken processing plant in Llangefni, Anglesey, as well as the Kober meat processing factory in Cleckheaton.

Speaking in the Commons, SNP MP Martyn Day (Linlithgow and East Falkirk) said: "We're witnessing that even countries like Germany - with good control of Covid-19 - are developing outbreaks which centre around meat processing plants.

"So what explanation has been given to the PM about this trend and how on earth does he think it'll be improved by cutting the safe distance from two metres to one metre?"

Mr Johnson said: "We're looking at exactly what's happening in meat processing plants.

"There are currently, I think, two theories advanced to me - one about the cold environment in the plants may be propitious to the virus, the other is the possibility that staff are congregating in such a way as to spread the virus.

"I don't know what it is, we're investigating.

"But wherever these outbreaks take place, we will use local cluster-busting techniques to stamp them out."

At the Downing Street press conference, the Government's chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance said the environment in meat plants could be a factor.

"They are cold, and we know the virus prefers it in the cold, there's often difficulty in keeping people physically separated, so there is that whole problem of proximity," he said.

They were often noisy - requiring people to speak louder and risk spreading the virus - and workers may "huddle" together during breaks.

"So the environment itself is rather a difficult one in terms of the risk and the behaviours that need to be in place in order to reduce those risks," said Sir Vallance.