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Sunday, May 03, 2020 11:41:16 PM
'Safe to eat': Dozens of COVID-19 cases linked to Cedar Meats in Melbourne's west
"Australians told restrictions must stay even as new virus infections slow
"The Covid-19 exit strategy: when will Australia know the coronavirus battle is over?" "
By Tom Cowie
May 4, 2020 — 11.02am
The abattoir at the centre of a coronavirus outbreak of at least 34 confirmed cases in Melbourne's west says the meat processed at its facility is safe for customers to eat.
Nineteen new cases were linked to Cedar Meats in Brooklyn on Monday, which was already responsible for 15 infections announced over the weekend.
Cedar Meats in Brooklyn.Credit:Simon Schluter
It is one of the largest clusters of COVID-19 in Victoria, which reported a total of 1406 cases as of Monday — a single-day increase of 22.
Cedar Meats general manager Tony Kairouz confirmed the outbreak in a statement released on Monday morning.
"The welfare and safety of our staff, visitors, suppliers and customers is our highest priority," he said.
"All workers are self-quarantining and we are working closely with the Victorian health authorities.
"All meat processed at our facilities is processed in accordance with Australian standards for food safety and our customers can be confident that the meat processed at our facilities is safe to eat."
The outbreak was discovered when a worker went to Sunshine Hospital for a workplace injury and took a COVID-19 test.
The facility, which is currently closed, employs around 350 people.
A patient who underwent emergency surgery at Sunshine Hospital on April 23 had tested positive to coronavirus, the Department of Health and Human Services confirmed on Friday.
VIDEO - Victoria has recorded 13 new cases of coronavirus in the past 24 hours, including six people connected to a new cluster at a meat processing plant.
The incident sidelined two dozen staff who were potentially exposed to the virus. None of the staff have tested positive to the virus so far, the department said.
Victorian Chief Health Officer Dr Brett Sutton said the facility had gone into shutdown, though it needed minimum staffing on site to ensure animal welfare.
"Meatworks are particularly vulnerable, we've seen from the US extremely large outbreaks in meatworks," he said.
"In some ways because they are forced to work closer than some other workplaces."
Dr Sutton defended the decision not to name the business when the outbreak was first revealed on Saturday, despite revealing the location of other places where people had tested positive.
"It has always been the case that if we need people in the community to understand where they might have been exposed to a cluster or outbreak of cases that we identify those sites," he said.
"If we are following up everyone, we have the names of contacts of everyone in the site, and we're not concerned about the general community being exposed then there's no specific public health reason to name those places."
The business, which exports overseas, was started by the Kairouz family in the 1980s. Premier Daniel Andrews said the owners were not related to Marlene Kairouz, the minister for consumer affairs.
"It is my understanding that there is no connection apart from the family name," he said.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/safe-to-eat-dozens-of-covid-19-cases-linked-to-cedar-meats-in-melbourne-s-west-20200504-p54pjh.html
See also:
What’s behind the New Swine Slaughter Inspection System?
"Trump eased regulation in meat processing plants. Guess what."
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=155247779
"Australians told restrictions must stay even as new virus infections slow
"The Covid-19 exit strategy: when will Australia know the coronavirus battle is over?" "
By Tom Cowie
May 4, 2020 — 11.02am
The abattoir at the centre of a coronavirus outbreak of at least 34 confirmed cases in Melbourne's west says the meat processed at its facility is safe for customers to eat.
Nineteen new cases were linked to Cedar Meats in Brooklyn on Monday, which was already responsible for 15 infections announced over the weekend.
Cedar Meats in Brooklyn.Credit:Simon Schluter
It is one of the largest clusters of COVID-19 in Victoria, which reported a total of 1406 cases as of Monday — a single-day increase of 22.
Cedar Meats general manager Tony Kairouz confirmed the outbreak in a statement released on Monday morning.
"The welfare and safety of our staff, visitors, suppliers and customers is our highest priority," he said.
"All workers are self-quarantining and we are working closely with the Victorian health authorities.
"All meat processed at our facilities is processed in accordance with Australian standards for food safety and our customers can be confident that the meat processed at our facilities is safe to eat."
The outbreak was discovered when a worker went to Sunshine Hospital for a workplace injury and took a COVID-19 test.
The facility, which is currently closed, employs around 350 people.
A patient who underwent emergency surgery at Sunshine Hospital on April 23 had tested positive to coronavirus, the Department of Health and Human Services confirmed on Friday.
VIDEO - Victoria has recorded 13 new cases of coronavirus in the past 24 hours, including six people connected to a new cluster at a meat processing plant.
The incident sidelined two dozen staff who were potentially exposed to the virus. None of the staff have tested positive to the virus so far, the department said.
Victorian Chief Health Officer Dr Brett Sutton said the facility had gone into shutdown, though it needed minimum staffing on site to ensure animal welfare.
"Meatworks are particularly vulnerable, we've seen from the US extremely large outbreaks in meatworks," he said.
"In some ways because they are forced to work closer than some other workplaces."
Dr Sutton defended the decision not to name the business when the outbreak was first revealed on Saturday, despite revealing the location of other places where people had tested positive.
"It has always been the case that if we need people in the community to understand where they might have been exposed to a cluster or outbreak of cases that we identify those sites," he said.
"If we are following up everyone, we have the names of contacts of everyone in the site, and we're not concerned about the general community being exposed then there's no specific public health reason to name those places."
The business, which exports overseas, was started by the Kairouz family in the 1980s. Premier Daniel Andrews said the owners were not related to Marlene Kairouz, the minister for consumer affairs.
"It is my understanding that there is no connection apart from the family name," he said.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/safe-to-eat-dozens-of-covid-19-cases-linked-to-cedar-meats-in-melbourne-s-west-20200504-p54pjh.html
See also:
What’s behind the New Swine Slaughter Inspection System?
"Trump eased regulation in meat processing plants. Guess what."
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=155247779
It was Plato who said, “He, O men, is the wisest, who like Socrates, knows that his wisdom is in truth worth nothing”
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