O’Brien Fine Foods has confirmed that testing of a further 42 employees today, Friday, August 7, has been completed, with six cases of Covid-19 discovered.

The company noted that, in all cases, the level of asymptomatic infectivity – meaning the person does not show expected symptoms – appears to be “very high”.

Those who have tested positive have been advised to isolate, the company said.

This comes on the back of an announcement last night that the company had suspended all processing operations at its facility in Timahoe, Co. Kildare, following the outbreak of a cluster of Covid-19 cases.

The statement said that all staff would continue to be paid in full.

The statement concluded by saying: “This sudden spike is difficult to comprehend for all of us. In co-operation with the HSE and Department of Health, we will continue to follow public health advice and take every necessary action to address it.”