Covid-19: Dewsbury textile workers at Ulster Yarns test positive

A mobile testing unit has been set up at Ulster Yarns' factory in Ravensthorpe

Twenty-two workers at a textile mill in Dewsbury have tested positive for Covid-19.

A mobile testing unit has been set up at Ulster Yarns' factory in Ravensthorpe following the outbreak, Kirklees Council said.

A company spokesperson said affected staff were "recovering at home" and the mill was continuing to operate with a reduced workforce.

The council said the risk to residents from the outbreak was "very low".

All employees are being tested at the site this week as the factory remains open "under ongoing safety protocols in line with government guidance", the authority says.

The mill is the latest in a series of firms in the Kirklees area to be hit by a Covid-19 outbreak in recent months and is the first since the area was placed back under local restrictions.

Tighter restrictions to curb the spread of coronavirus came into force a week ago.

In July, bed factories in Liversedge, Ossett and Batley reported outbreaks while in June, a meat plant in Cleckheaton confirmed 165 staff falling ill with the virus.

Last month, eight workers at an online electrical retail company in Huddersfield also tested positive for Covid-19.

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