Coronavirus: 75 workers at Bernard Matthews turkey plant in Norfolk test positive
Around 600 staff were tested at the site, which returned 75 positive results - the majority of whom worked the afternoon shift.
Thursday 22 October 2020 14:44, UK
Seventy-five workers at a Bernard Matthews factory in Norfolk have tested positive for coronavirus.
Norfolk County Council confirmed the number of cases on Thursday at the turkey plant in Great Witchingham, where precautionary testing has been under way since last week.
There were 600 staff tested at the site, with 75 positive results - the majority of which were confirmed in people who had worked on the afternoon shift.
Public Health England has, as a result, instructed the entire shift to self-isolate.
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In a statement, the council said: "It is advised that staff must self-isolate for 14 days, if they have not tested positive or not been tested.
"Staff must isolate for 10 days if they have had a positive test result, and the households of positive cases, including children, need to isolate for 14 days."
The news of the outbreak comes after another Bernard Matthews plant in Suffolk reported a similar flurry of cases last week.
Seventy-two people tested positive at the food processing facility in Holton, near Halesworth, according to Suffolk County Council.
This resulted in the company introducing bus marshals on its free staff transport to respond to the outbreak.