A number of cases of coronavirus have been confirmed at Tulip’s pork processing site in Tipton.
A spokesperson from Tulip Ltd said: “Safety is a condition within our business. When restrictions were introduced, and Government guidelines issued in relation to coronavirus and food processing sites, our business has been working to these guidelines and liaising with UK Government, the Food Standards Agency, the Health & Safety Executive and Public Health England on all matters including social distancing and its application in food processing factories.
“We are proud of our team members at Tipton who, as key workers, have bravely responded to this global pandemic in the most challenging of local circumstances; their health and wellbeing is of the utmost importance and we welcome PHE Midlands’ support during these unprecedented times.
“We are working with PHE Midlands to arrange swab testing for a sample group in one particular area of production before deciding upon the need for any further screening. As soon as we receive test results, we will liaise with health partners to assess whether further actions are necessary.”
Public Health England (PHE) Midlands says it is working with Sandwell Council, the HSE and local NHS colleagues, to support Tulip and its staff members.
In line with NHS guidance, any affected individuals are being asked to self-isolate at home for 7 days, with members of their households to isolate for 14 days.
Dr James Chipwete, PHE Midlands consultant in communicable disease control, said: “The management at Tulip Ltd are cooperating fully with public health professionals and members of the HSE, to protect the health and wellbeing of their workforce.
“We are dealing with a large workforce of almost 600 people, and despite putting a range of infection control measures in place to protect staff from potential exposure to Covid-19, there have been a number of cases among workers. We are therefore liaising with management, the local authority and the Health & Safety Executive to advise on increased social distancing measures. We are also working with local NHS colleagues to arrange testing for a group of the workforce that have seen the most cases of Covid-19 over the last month.”
This story was originally published on a previous version of the Meat Management website and so there may be some missing images and formatting issues.
