The workers’ union Unite is calling for the temporary closure of Moy Park to carry out testing following the death of a worker who contracted COVID-19.

Regional secretary for Unite, Jackie Pollock, has written to the First Minister and Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland to demand testing for workers in the meat sector.

There is no suggestion that Moy Park was at fault but the union says the entire workforce and their families need to be tested for the virus and an assessment carried out.

“Unite has now confirmed that a worker based in Moy Park Dungannon has died following contracting the COVID-19 virus,” Unite regional officer Sean McKeever said.

That this female worker lost her life does not come as a huge surprise

“For some time our union has been raising our concerns about the failure of management to ensure proper social distancing on production lines in Moy Park sites in Dungannon and Portadown.

“Sadly, the Health and Safety Executive has yet to conduct a physical inspection on either site - the dreadful news that this female worker lost her life does not come as a huge surprise.”

McKeever said the union was aware of outbreaks of COVID-19 in Moy Park sites in Dungannon and Portadown. He added they were also aware of “exposed clusters forming in a growing number of meatpacking sites”.

Moy Park is one of the biggest local employers in Northern Ireland and the have been contacted for comment.

Linden Foods

Unite said they were also aware of a growing number of clusters of the virus in Linden Foods in Granville, Dungannon.

“Now we understand from workers that at least seven COVID-19 cases have been confirmed at the Linden Foods site. The workers are hugely concerned for their safety. We are also hearing of similar reports at a number of other sites,” Unite senior organiser Davy Kettyles said.

The union has called on the HSENI to conduct inspections of meat factories in Northern Ireland and help prevent a situation similar to the US where meat factories faced a deluge of COVID-19 cases.

Linden Foods said it had been implementing a range of measures to protect workers and would agree with calls for further testing availability and quicker turnaround times.

“Since the availability of testing for key workers we have insisted any symptomatic employee to be tested and to immediately communicate their results back to the business,” a statement from the company said.

“To date, we have received both positive and negative COVID-19 results and continue to reinforce our rigorous health and safety COVID-19 protocols. We report all COVID-19-related absences to the designated government agency.”

Clusters

The news in Northern Ireland follows reports from the Department of Health in the Republic of Ireland that 10 clusters have been reported in meat plants.

The deputy chief medical officer Ronan Glynn said there are clusters across a range of different types of workplaces but the main one is meat processing facilities.

“As of yesterday [Thursday, 7 April], there have been 10 clusters across 10 different facilities, with a total of 566 cases,” he said at the daily coronavirus briefing on Friday.

A special team has been assembled to deal with the issue in meat factories.

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