Virus outbreak at Evesham food packaging firm

The company employs about 340 workers at its site in Blackminster

Hundreds of workers at a food packaging site are to be tested for Covid-19 after 14 staff tested positive.

Evesham Vale Growers Limited in Worcestershire is being supported by the council and Public Health England (PHE) Midlands after the outbreak.

About 340 workers are employed at the site in Blackminster, which packs and distributes vegetables and salad products.

All staff will now be tested and advised to isolate when not in work.

PHE said it had seen a "trend" of outbreaks at large food producers and testing all staff was a "precautionary measure".

The firm said a host of preventative measures were in place, including screens, hand washing facilities, extra cleaning and protocols for workers coming and going on the site.

The outbreak comes after A S Green and Co in neighbouring Herefordshire went into lockdown following an outbreak.

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Dr Kathryn Cobain, Worcestershire's director for public health, said: "We will continue to support the site management, their workers - who form an important part of our local economy, and the local community through this challenging time.

"The food produced on the site is unaffected by the outbreak and remains safe to eat."