Covid-19: Dawn Meats temporarily shuts Kilbeggan meat facility

Irish company Dawn Meats has reportedly temporarily closed one of its meat plants following confirmation of positive Covid-19 cases.

The company said that four cases were confirmed among its workers at Kilbeggan facility in Co Westmeath.

Dawn Meats spokesperson said in a statement: “Dawn Meats takes the health, safety and welfare of employees, suppliers, contractors and visitors extremely seriously.

“We have implemented a detailed series of measures to manage risks associated with Covid-19 and to maintain social distancing in our facilities in line with procedures recommended by the HSE [Health Service Executive] and other Government agencies.

“When we became aware of four confirmed cases of Covid-19 amongst workers in Kilbeggan we decided to defer production in the plant yesterday.”

The company said that no production activities will be carried out at the facility over the weekend.

Also, no decision has been taken yet whether production activities at the facility will be halted next week.

The spokesperson added: “The cases reflect less than 2% of staff at the plant – however, the decision was taken out of an abundance of caution whilst we review the situation.”

In another development, Rosderra Irish Meats, an Irish pork processing company, has announced that some of its staff members have tested positive with Covid-19, reported RTÉ News.

According to Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Michael Creed, there are “six clusters of Covid-19 in beef plants”.

In 2017, Dawn Meats and Dunbia received regulatory approval for a strategic partnership to boost company profits.