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Major food supplier for main British supermarkets at centre of new COVID-19 outbreak

19 June 2020, 08:46

The factory provides UK supermarkets with ready meals. Picture: PA

The factory has seen the number of confirmed cases soar up in recent days.

A food supplier for the UK's biggest supermarkets is now at the centre of a new coronavirus outbreak, claim workers.

A whopping 38 staff have all tested positive for COVID-19 at Rowan Foods' factory, which makes ready meals for the likes of Sainsbury's, Tesco, Asda, Morrisons and Waitrose.

We've all been taking special precautions when visiting supermarkets. Picture: PA

The Wrexham-based factory in North Wales has seen the number of positive test results triple in the past 10 days, according to a source at the facility.

At the moment around 200 of the 1,500 workforce are now self-isolating at home, which is a staggering amount.

Back in April, staff at the Welsh factory walked out over concern about their working conditions, and it seems like conditions haven't improved in regard to social distancing, as the issue was never tackled.

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A staff member told The Sun: "Last week a man got a message to say he was positive while on a shift in the factory.

“He’d be working for over two days with the virus.

"There’s no social distancing at all, everyone is very worried.

“I’ve got a young family at home and I am scared to go to work.

"I don’t want to die just because I went to work.”

Wrexham Maelor Hospital, near to the Rowan Foods factory, has seen a spike in cases in the last few days, which is worrying.

Supermarkets across the country are changing the way they operate. Picture: PA

Oscar Mayer, which owns Rowan Foods, said: “The site has 38 staff absent due to testing positive for Covid-19, this is across our direct and agency workforce which totals 1,500.

“We are very thankful that none of our colleagues are seriously ill or hospitalised from this virus. We have encouraged all staff to stay home if they have any potential COVID 19 symptoms, however mild these symptoms may be.

“While we are seeing a number of cases on site, Public Health Wales support our view that there is no clear evidence to suggest that there is a spread of the virus within the site."