The Irish Farmers Journal has learned that the sheep and beef kill at Kildare Chilling is still suspended following an outbreak of COVID-19 at the meat factory almost two weeks ago.

The factory has warned that it is “unlikely” to be taking sheep during the early part of this week and is still awaiting the results from a second round of COVID-19 testing.

It is understood that up to 150 workers have already tested positive, with up to 200 still waiting on results.

Kildare Chilling is one of four plants where COVID-19 outbreaks occurred which triggered the local lockdown in Kildare, Laois and Offaly.

There have been almost 1,100 new cases of the virus in the country over the last two weeks.

Government testing of factory workers is meant to begin this week and Meat Industry Ireland has insisted that results should be returned in a speedy manner.

Farmer concerns

Up to 15,000 lambs are processed at the plant every week and some farmersare concerned that they will not be able to get a competitive price for their animals with the continued closure of the plant.

The factory has urged any suppliers who are having difficulty in selling or organising sheep for sale to get in contact.

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