A food production plant in Ireland has suspended operations after 80 workers tested positive for coronavirus. O'Brien Fine Foods said it stopped operations at its Timohoe facility, in Co Kildare, at 9pm on Wednesday.
The company has been engaging with the Health Service Executive (HSE) to test all employees after three confirmed cases. Some 80 workers have so far tested positive for Covid-19, after a spike in Ireland's 'R rate', which now stands at around 1.8, meaning the virus is spreading. "Of 243 tests completed, 80 have been confirmed as positive for Covid-19.
Of the 80 confirmed, the level of asymptomatic infectivity appears to be very high. We are completing testing of a further 42 employees today," the company said in a statement.