Two abattoirs in Scotland and one in Northern Ireland have been significantly impacted by outbreaks of COVID-19 among workers.

The Scotbeef Bridge of Allan plant in Stirling paused killing of cattle this week, while the Kepak factory at Portlethen in Aberdeenshire has significantly reduced its kill.

In NI, the WD Meats factory in Coleraine stopped killing cattle last week after a surge of cases in the local area. It is not expected to fully resume operations until the middle of next week.

As well as local finishers being forced to hold cattle for an extra two weeks, the closure has also created a backlog of TB reactor cattle on some farms given that WD Meats has the DAERA contract for this work.

Bad timing

The two Scottish factories account for around 30% of the region’s kill, and for all factories impacted, it is bad timing given the push to get Christmas orders satisfied.

Scotbeef released a statement on Wednesday, which confirmed the outbreak and stated that a phased return to operations at the processing plant was already under way.

A company spokesperson said: “All appropriate action has been taken and activity was paused on a temporary basis whilst all colleagues were tested. We continue to work closely with NHS Forth Valley’s public health team who are providing advice and support to assist with a phased return to full operation over the coming days”.

Kepak

Earlier this week, a number of staff at Kepak’s distribution centre in Portlethen are understood to have contracted the virus.

NHS Grampian’s public health team has issued a statement stating it is working with Kepak in Portlethen and other partners, to ensure all appropriate control measures are in place within the workplace.

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