Glanbia Ireland has put in place precautionary measures as part of the national effort to minimise the spread of coronavirus (Covid-19), outlining its protocol around deliveries and milk collections from suppliers.

Glanbia has called on its suppliers to contact their local Glanbia Ireland advisor by phone immediately if a member of the farm household or farm staff have a suspected or confirmed case of Covid-19.

Glanbia Ireland said it “will implement relevant measures to continue to collect or make deliveries to/from your farm while following our strict hygiene protocols”.

A number of weeks ago, Glanbia Ireland initiated its Business Continuity Planning (BCP) process to deal with the challenges arising from this situation, the processor said.

“In addition to our already strict hygiene procedures, we have drawn up protocols in relation to the delivery of our feed/fertiliser and the collection of milk for our farmer customers and suppliers,” Glanbia said in a statement.

“We are asking farmers to aid Glanbia Ireland, our team of drivers and all our suppliers in implementing these precautionary measures.

As a precautionary measure and to protect both our farmers and our drivers, we would ask that both parties minimise close contact and continue to follow HSE [Health Service Executive] advice.

Meanwhile, farmers delivering milk samples to Glanbia facilities are asked to follow the relevant site procedures.

“Please be assured that we are continuing to monitor this evolving issue on a daily basis and taking all appropriate measures,” Glanbia concluded.