Forza Foods in Normanton open despite coronavirus cases
- Published
The factory is said to have alerted the authorities as soon as workers tested positive for coronavirus
A meat factory in West Yorkshire is staying open despite 17 workers testing positive for coronavirus.
Further cases are being investigated at Forza Foods in Normanton, with 300 staff offered tests and told to self-isolate at home
However, the factory in Normanton is still operational as most of those who tested positive work the same shift.
Parent company Asda said the authorities were "satisfied with the safety precautions" in place.
An Asda spokesman said: "As soon as we became aware that some colleagues had tested positive we alerted the relevant authorities.
"The number of colleagues that have tested positive represents just 1% of the total workforce at the site and almost all are employed on one particular shift."
He said the local authority and the Health and Safety Executive had both inspected the site on Devilliers Way, which employs more than 1,000 people to slice and pack cooked meat for the supermarket giant.
SOCIAL DISTANCING: What are the rules now?
SOCIAL LIFE: When will pubs, bars and restaurants reopen?
TESTING: Who can get a test and how?
LOOK-UP TOOL: How many cases in your area?
Anna Hartley, director of public health at Wakefield Council, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that staff who had been sent home would "only return to work when it is safe for them to do so".
Last month it was confirmed that 165 staff working at a meat factory in Kirklees had tested positive for the virus.
The Kober factory in Cleckheaton - a supplier to Asda - was shut, but has since reopened.
On Wednesday, Dura Beds in Batley closed for two weeks after reporting eight positive cases.
Follow BBC Yorkshire on Facebook, external, Twitter, external and Instagram, external. Send your story ideas to yorkslincs.news@bbc.co.uk or send video here.
- Published1 July 2020
- Published25 June 2020
