The mass testing of the 1,000 workers at 2 Sisters’ Coupar Angus poultry processing plant has now uncovered 59 positive results for COVID-19 among staff and a further nine cases in the community. The plant was closed by the company on Monday 17 August after a cluster of cases first emerged.
The company said at the time management believed the cases were originally contracted within the community rather than at the plant. Scotland’s coronavirus rate soared dramatically last week as a result of the outbreak among poultry workers in Tayside and first minister Nicola Sturgeon said the outbreak at the plant was a “significant cluster”.
All workers and their families have been told to self-isolate for two weeks, and workers children will not be allowed to go to school or nursery.
Hate crime incidents are being monitored by police and council staff, according to the region’s newspaper The Courier. A joint statement from Tayside Police and NHS Tayside referenced comments made online about workers at 2 Sisters and their families, with police promising to “investigate every report”.