Brechin pig plant 'rife' with coronavirus since start of week

It's understood 10 employees at the Quality Pork plant have tested positive after infection started in the cutting department

Author: Callum ClarkPublished 22nd Jan 2021
Last updated 22nd Jan 2021

Tay News understands 10 workers at a pig slaughtering house in Brechin have tested positive for coronavirus.

It's believed the outbreak started in the cutting department of the Quality Pork plant earlier this week.

One worker who's tested positive and is self-isolating believes production at the factory ceased this morning.

'Since Monday night the place has been rife with coronavirus. 10 people were off on Tuesday, I've also been off since then, I've felt terrible," they said.

"There's no smoke coming out of the factory this morning, so there's definitely no production. Our department is the coldest part of the plant, we're talking around two degrees Celsius.

"There has been a lot of adhering to social distancing. There are at least a hundred hand sanitizers there, there's CCTV in place to make sure people wash their hands. If you get caught not washing you get disciplined. "

The worker is having to quarantine until next Thursday, and is hitting out at employers for not providing full pay for that period.

"I had a call from the company this week to say that I would only receive standard sick pay, he added.

"That's several hundred pounds I'll be missing out on by the time I can return on Thursday.

"I'm furious that I've potentially contracted it. The company's actually been making more money than normal during lockdown, yet I'll only get £92 for the 10 days I have to isolate."

NHS Tayside's confirmed no Incident Management Team has been set up at the Quality Pork factory.

Quality Pork Processors has not responded to a request for comment.

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