400 cases confirmed at German slaughterhouses

A German slaughterhouse business on Wednesday reported that 400 of there workers had tested positive for the novel covid 19 since the beginning of this week.

There have been a handful of covid 19 outbreaks in meat-processing plants and slaughterhouses across Germany.

Concerns have been raised about the working and living conditions of the meat industry workers, many of whom are temporary labourers from Eastern Europe.

Out  Of the 500 tests conducted on workers in slaughterhouses and meat-processing plants belonging to the Toennies Group in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, 400 came back positive, company officials said.

Local and company officials planned to give a news conference on the outbreak later in the day and the state health ministry said it would deliver details about the situation to the state parliament.

After a covid 19 hotspot was identified in a meat-processing plant in Coesfeld in May, the government ordered companies involved in the meat industry to conduct regular covid 19 tests on their workers.