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The cattle and sheep processing operations at Kildare Chilling are to remain suspended, the company has confirmed.
Early last week, the processor closed its sheep line followed by its cattle line after an outbreak of COVID-19 in its plant in Kildare Town.
In a statement on Sunday morning, Kildare Chilling said it was continuing to work closely with the HSE local outbreak control team. Any return to work at the plant will be under the guidance of the HSE and public health authorities, it added.
The company did not give an indication of when that might be.
Closures
Speaking on Saturday evening on RTÉ News, Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly said it was his opinion that it would not be appropriate for processors with an outbreak to open.
The closure of Kildare Chilling has been described as a blow to farmers, particularly sheep farmers with the plant one of the five main players in the weekly sheep kill.
O’Brien Fine Foods, a processing facility in Timahoe that has had an outbreak, confirmed that normal operations will not resume until 18 August. To date, 86 workers in the plant have tested positive for the virus.
The Irish Dog Food factory in Naas has pushed back plans to reopen after it closed up to two weeks ago due to an outbreak. A fourth processing facility, Carroll’s Cuisine outside Tullamore in Co Offaly, has also had an outbreak.
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