Cedar Meats abattoir struck by coronavirus for second time
Cedar Meats has been hit by coronavirus again, sending all workers into isolation for a second time. The abattoir only begun processing livestock again two months ago after an outbreak of 111 people.
CEDAR Meats abattoir in Melbourne has been struck by coronavirus for the second time.
The Brooklyn site, which was the centre of an outbreak linked to 111 people in May, has today announced a worker has tested positive to the virus.
It is the thirteenth Victorian meat processor to have workers test positive to coronavirus this month.
In a statement released tonight, a Cedar Meats spokeswoman said the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services notified the company of the positive result today and all close contacts were also tested on site today.
The worker was last at the abattoir on Wednesday, July 22.
All Cedar Meats staff have been asked to self-isolate until further notice.
“Our main priority is our staff’s health and wellbeing,” the spokeswoman said.
“We will continue to follow the advice of DHHS as we await the results of the testing undertaken today.”
The abattoir only became fully operational again two months ago, after it was forced to stop processing livestock for about a month. The site had been completely shutdown for 18 days.
At the time, both Cedar Meats and authorities were criticised for their handling of the outbreak, including not initially identifying the abattoir and not closing it sooner.
Cedar Meats is under 2km from JBS Australia’s Brooklyn site, which has been linked to 84 coronavirus cases as of midnight Thursday.
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