Coronavirus: Local lockdown on Anglesey could go ahead if evidence suggests it works
Some 175 staff at a chicken plant on the island have tested positive for coronavirus, with all of them going into self-isolation.
Monday 22 June 2020 21:06, UK
The UK's first "local lockdown" will only be introduced on Anglesey if there is enough evidence to show it will be effective.
Some 175 workers at the 2 Sisters chicken plant in Llangefni on Anglesey in North Wales have now tested positive for COVID-19.
Work was halted at the site last week and every one of the 560 employees has been asked to get tested for coronavirus and go into self-isolation.
Leader of Isle of Anglesey County Council, Councillor Llinos Medi, told Sky News: "Obviously there is no clear understanding of the community transmission yet, but at the moment we feel comfortable that we have been able to contain it but it is still early days."
The island which is connected to the mainland by just two bridges across the Menai Strait could be placed under tighter COVID-19 restrictions such as a local lockdown, but it is a measure that has not been introduced anywhere else in the UK.
Discussions are ongoing over how a local lockdown might look on the island if the evidence suggests that one is required.
"We won't be pushed to make wrong decisions, we will make them on evidence," Councillor Medi said.
She acknowledged the island's 70,000 residents and businesses have many questions about how it might work but nobody has had to implement one so far.
Councillor Medi also pleaded with the 650 workers who have all been sent home to follow the advice they have been given.
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"If you work in that factory you should isolate. You could do more to help on this than I can - this is a collective responsibility," she added.
Contact tracers are working to establish who may have been in close contact with the people who have tested positive.
Outbreaks have been reported at meat processing plants in the US and in several European countries, as well as a series of clusters around the UK.
Experts believe the cooler temperatures and working practices in food factories may make workers more likely to pick up the virus.
In his daily briefing in Cardiff, the First Minister of Wales Mark Drakeford said they would make quick decisions.
He said: "There will be no delay but our approach will be proportionate.
"It will draw on the evidence, it will draw on local intelligence and information and then we will take the action that is required."
He said he wanted to ensure Wales "responded directly to the outbreak but doesn't do so in a way that unfairly places restrictions on people where there would be no public health advantage to doing so."