A staff member at the ABP Food Group processing plant in Cahir, Co. Tipperary, has tested positive for Covid-19.

In a statement, ABP said: “On Friday [August 14], ABP Cahir was notified of a positive Covid-19 test of one of its employees, after being referred for testing as a result of the company’s factory entrance employee assessment procedures.

“In line with HSE [Health Service Executive] and company protocols, all close contacts of the worker are self-isolating and are now undergoing testing. ABP Cahir will continue to take guidance and direction from both the HSE and the HSA [Health and Safety Authority] in relation to the case,” the group’s statement added.

The statement also outlined a number of the protocols ABP has in place to mitigate the spread of Covid-19.

These include;

  • Temperature checks;
  • Additional sanitisation;
  • Increasing floor capacity in canteen areas;
  • Perspex partitions between work stations;
  • Additional personal protective equipment (PPE);
  • Staggered work breaks and shift start/end times.

ABP said it has also put in place multilingual signage and briefing packs for its staff, as well as “detailed procedures for managing incidents of employees becoming unwell in the workplace and investigating clusters of any potentially linked illnesses”.

Tipp mushroom plant

Staying in the ‘premier county’, 28 cases of Covid-19 have been diagnosed among staff at a mushroom plant in Golden, Co. Tipperary, AgriLand understands.

Walsh Mushrooms Golden suspended operations at its plant last Friday, after one of its workers tested positive for the virus while in self-isolation.

According to independent TD Mattie McGrath, 112 workers at the plant were tested for Covid-19, with about two-thirds of those tests processed as of yesterday evening, Sunday, August 16.