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Some 128 new cases of COVID-19 among meat and poultry factory workers have been reported to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HSPC) since the start of December last year.
The HSPC told the Irish Farmers Journal that three clusters were reported in December, accounting for a total of 112 cases, while a further three clusters were linked to just 16 cases.
In total, there have been seven clusters reported since December, with two of these clusters occurring in January this year.
The HSPC said that the number of cases is likely to increase, as one factory has yet to confirm the total number of positive cases and that due to the recent surge in COVID-19, there were delays in linking COVID-19 cases to outbreaks on the national surveillance system (CIDR).
Testing
The programme for testing in meat factories has continued, but in some areas the Irish Farmers Journal understands that testing dates were pushed back due to issues with HSE capacity.
This also happened in September 2020, when demands on testing facilities within the general population meant that the testing programme in meat factories was temporarily suspended.
Overall, the latest report from the HSPC shows that the majority of outbreaks (75%) were linked to private homes, while 18% were related to all types of workplace settings.
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