The 2 Sisters Food Group has shut down production after it emerged that more than 50 workers had caught the infection.
The site in Llangefni, North Wales continued operating since 28 May when the outbreak was first uncovered by management and shut down almost a month later on 18th June only after the intervention by founder Ranjit Singh Boparan. A day later Public Health Wales said it had identified 51 confirmed cases of coronavirus associated with the poultry processing plant in Anglesey, which will now remain closed for the next two weeks.
2 Sisters was operating its own ‘track and trace’ system since the Welsh government had endorsed the scheme in late May. After the positive case was discovered, 100 of the 560 people who work at the factory were told to self-isolate, with half of those going on to develop the illness.
According to The Grocer 2 Sisters management had taken a “no-risk approach” to the outbreak with staff told to self-isolate “even if they had just brushed past the infected person in a corridor”.
It also noted that 2 Sisters had been operating a full “safe ways of working” system at the factory since the coronavirus crisis began in March in the UK. This included the use of Perspex screens, visors and social distancing in high-traffic areas of the factor.
A spokesman for the company said, “The health, safety and wellbeing of our colleagues is ultimately the thing that matters most at our business. We are a responsible company with people at its core. Without our people we are nothing. Therefore, in light of the current Covid-19 cases at our Llangefni site, we have decided to take the necessary action to clearly demonstrate how seriously we take this issue by doing the right thing.”
