Covid Victoria: Who will bear the cost of rapid antigen testing in agriculture

Industry may have to pay for the sought-after tests, as 10 meat processors are hit by Covid and it’s revealed when worker caps will end.

It may be left up to Victorian agriculture businesses, including meat processors, to fork out the money to buy rapid antigen tests when they become available next month.

It comes as 10 meat processors in the state have had Covid-19 transmission on site or have been identified as exposure sites in the past week.

And after the Victorian Farmers Federation was angered by lack of consultation to make vaccines mandatory in agriculture, saying “the risk with us is that if you get it wrong, you’re going to have no food on the shelves”.

Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley revealed yesterday the government had purchased 2.2 million rapid antigen tests that would be rolled out across the health system from November 1, and those would then be followed by a rollout in other “risky” settings such as schools, childcare, corrections and emergency services.

However, when asked whether they’d be supplied more broadly, Mr Foley said “we will certainly be providing them across the government services” and indicated private businesses could buy their own.

When questioned about the rapid antigen test rollout, Agriculture Minister Mary-Anne Thomas’s office said the government could potentially expand it to other settings.

“Targeted surveillance using rapid antigen testing will be expanded, with the Government working with industry on potential applications in settings such as construction and food supply,” a spokeswoman said. “Any positive result will require follow up with a PCR test.

“As we move towards a different way of managing this virus as a vaccinated population – and with TGA approval – we can now broaden our range of testing measures and implement rapid testing technology to support standard PCR testing.”

The Weekly Times can also reveal that once 70 per cent of the Victorian population aged 16 years and over are fully vaccinated, estimated to be Tuesday, October 26, the government plans to end current workforce limits for meat processors in Melbourne.

WHAT INDUSTRY WANTS

The Australian Meat Industry Council wants rapid antigen testing to be government-funded “to maintain the Australian food chain”.

“We have led industry and community in getting people vaccinated through any and all incentives with no reward, other than in Victoria being closed down or restricted,” AMIC chief executive Patrick Hutchinson said.

“Rapid antigen testing will take on more significance as and when we see the new normal management of Covid infections, especially with fully vaccinated workers.”

OPTION FOR UNVACCINATED

Australasian Meat Industry Employees Union Victorian branch secretary Paul Conway said unvaccinated meatworks workers should have the option of testing themselves before beginning their shift, if choosing to remain unvaccinated.

But the workers – not the employer – would bear the cost of the $8 to $10 testing kit, Mr Conway said.

“Meat workers are not Covid sceptics or fanatical anti-vaxxers. We know that our jobs depend on maintaining healthy workplaces,” Mr Conway said.

“Every worker in the processing section of the industry has been vaccinated against Q fever, for example, and approximately 80 per cent have been vaccinated against Covid-19.

“The mandate is a blunt instrument that is more likely to drive some people out of the industry than to keep them in it.”

MEAT PROCESSORS TAKE ACTION

The Australian Lamb Company at Colac was linked to a number of positive cases late last month, resulting in a temporary shutdown to “limit the spread”, despite no evidence of transmission at the ALC site.

ALC confirmed a recent vaccination clinic resulted in 92 per cent of the workforce receiving their first vaccination, with about 72 per cent fully vaccinated.

“We will close the gap between the first and second dose even further when a portion of our workforce comes out of quarantine next week,” an ALC spokesman said.