Vion wants repeated preventive testing of all employees
Vion Food Group wants to take immediate preventive measures to contain corona infection within its companies after dozens of workers at one of its plants, in Groenlo, have tested positive for COVID-19. In addition, Vion calls on the Municipal Health Service/Regional Medical Assistance Organisation (GGD GHOR) and the Safety Council to conduct repeated preventive tests of all employees of its meat companies. That way, the company can continue to supply to the Netherlands. Vion will provide all available data on compliance and supervision as regulated by its corona protocols, said the company in a press release.
"We’ve got nothing to hide. We contribute to the food supply in the Netherlands. As a ‘vital industry’, our sector has been asked by the cabinet to continue working during the corona crisis. Our people are fully committed to this every day, complying with the regulations of the authorities, such as the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), the Municipal Health Service (GGD) and the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA). Inspections confirm that we meet those required measures. Compliance with and supervision of our corona protocols in all our companies show the same", stated Ronald Lotgerink, CEO Vion Food Group.
However, despite all these measures, infections have reached the staff in Vion's processing plant in Groenlo and all 600 employees have been sent in quarantine and operations halted. "Following this situation in Groenlo, we call on the Municipal Health Service and NVWA to conduct preventive tests for corona of all our employees of our meat companies and other companies in the industry. Not just once, but repeatedly, so that it is easier to determine who is infected and who is not; to see how the virus develops; to home quarantine infected employees immediately; and to monitor whether the measures have sufficient effect. We think it is undesirable that employees cannot be reached or fail to respond. And we will do everything we can to reach out to these employees and hold them responsible. In this corona crisis, we must act together. So we must sit around the table and discuss this. Central and local authorities must be able to trust that we are doing everything in our power to do what is best for our employees, for the people around them, and the meat supply in the Netherlands", added Mr. Lotgerink.
Several cases of COVID-19 infection have impacted meat processing units in Germany, Italy and Spain, creating disruptions in the supply chain in Europe. In the US, the situation is far worst, with meat processing units falling one after another. It is believed that more than 13,000 employees in the American meat industry have been infected with COVID-19. The incident reported in Groenlo is the first one reported in the Netherlands.
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