Thousands of infected people at meat processing factory in Germany

Report by : Gan Yung Chyan

                 / KUCINTA SETIA

A joint meat processing factory in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, has recently experienced a cluster of covid infections, which has attracted attention. As of 20 June 2020 afternoon, about 5,800 employees were tested for SARS-CoV-2, and the number of confirmed infections rose to 1,029.

The Xinhua News Agency quoted local health department officials as reporting that the cutting department of the Tonnies Factory is the "severely affected area" of the epidemic, and about two-thirds of employees were diagnosed with covid.

According to German media reports, the authorities are investigating the residences of the employees of the Meat Union Factory. At the request of the local government, the German military sent 65 soldiers to assist in virus detection.

According to reports, the aforementioned meat unit has been ordered to stop production for 14 days from the 20th to prevent the virus from spreading further. Earlier, all 6,500 employees and their family members of the Meat Joint Factory had been quarantined, and local primary and secondary schools and kindergartens were also required to suspend classes from the 18th to the 29th.

According to data released by the German Koch Institute for Disease Control and Prevention on 20 June, the cumulative number of confirmed cases of covid in Germany has reached 189,135, an increase of 601 compared with the previous day. The cumulative number of deaths is 8,883, an increase of 11 cases from the previous day. There is a total of 174,700 cured cases.