Why Covid-19 can run rife in meatpacking plants

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Meat-processing plants around the world are proving coronavirus infection hotspots, with an outbreak at a factory in Germany leading to Guetersloh becoming on Tuesday the first area in the country to be ordered back into lockdown.

More than 1,500 workers at the Guetersloh plant tested positive for the virus that causes Covid-19, while outbreaks have also hit meat and poultry plants in Britain in recent days.

In many rural parts of the US, meatpacking plants have been the main source of infection. On April 28, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to keep such factories open, warning of a potential threat to the US food supply. The meat industry is particularly susceptible to coronavirus infections because of the nature of the work: intense physical labour, conducted indoors at close proximity to other workers.

"Their work environments - processing lines and other areas in busy plants where they have close contact with coworkers and supervisors - may contribute substantially to their potential exposures," the US Centers for Disease Control says of meatpacking workers.

 

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