Staff living and travelling together at Anglesey factory hit by coronavirus outbreak made them ‘more susceptible’

The number of staff who live and travel together at an Anglesey factory hit by a coronavirus outbreak made them “more susceptible” to contracting the disease, Wales’ health minister has said.

A total of 175 people have tested positive for COVID-19 related to the 2 Sisters poultry processing plant in Llangefni, according to the latest figures.

Health Minister Vaughan Gething was today questioned on whether the fact that many workers live together in Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMOs) had contributed to the spread of the virus.

Anglesey’s Local Democracy Reporter Gareth Wyn Williams also asked whether the widespread use of public transport by employees had also added to the problem.

Speaking at today’s daily Welsh Government press conference, Mr Gething acknowledge both were factors in the outbreak, but added it made tracing cases easier.

“The challenge is that common travel and living in houses of multiple occupation means they’re more susceptible to the coronavirus spreading.

“Again, it’s the point about households being distinct about following the social distancing guidance, because when people don’t do that, they put themselves and other people at much greater risk.

“It actually makes it easier to trace in this circumstance and I should say that not just the tracing team on Anglesey who have worked incredibly hard to follow up on identifying contacts, and then giving people advice, but the mutual aid that’s been provided.

“Anglesey in particular has had mutual aid from Swansea Bay and their contract tracing team.”

He continued: “It’s a genuine national effort to recognize the importance of these outbreaks.

“I’m very proud of the way that our contact tracing teams have worked across the country to make sure that test, trace and protect really does work here in Wales.”

Mr Gething said further investigations were being carried out into why food facilities are more likely to see a spread of the virus among their workforce.

It comes as there have also been 70 cases in a separate outbreak at Rowan Foods in Wrexham.

He said the government would specifically be looking at whether adequate safety measures are in place.

He said: “It’s part of the reason we’re having a meeting with the trade union side as well to understand the perspective of workers and their representatives to see what was taking place not only within the work environment, but the social environments around it as well.

“Also, I’m talking to Health and Safety Executive later today, because I want reassurance about the measures that are being taken, not just around the outbreaks, but the broader issue about this sector in particular.

“Lesley Griffiths has already ordered a review to be undertaken by Food Innovation Wales across the whole sector, the 26 meat processing and food processing plants in Wales.

“It’s also why I’ve committed writing a plan and guidance to the whole sector later this week.”

Despite calls for a local lockdown being made today by an Anglesey-based GP, Mr Gething said there was no evidence that the outbreak had spread into the wider community in either Anglesey or Wrexham.

However, he said the situation in the region would be kept under review.

“Before I go into further details about the two confirmed outbreaks, I want to restate that at the moment, there is no evidence of wider community transmission beyond these plants.

“All cases are directly linked to people working in these factories. The cases have been identified through our NHS Wales test, trace and protect service.

“It shows that our service is working properly and I’m very grateful to all of our test trace protect teams across the country who are working together to keep Wales safe.

“I also want to assure the public that cases of coronavirus are generally still falling across Wales.

“We seem to have had fewer than 100 cases each day in the first few weeks of June.

“There has been an increase over weekend, which is probably related to the two outbreaks I’m referring to.

“These outbreaks reinforce the need for all of us to continue to take coronavirus very seriously. It has not gone away. There is absolutely no room for complacency.”