The Department of Health has confirmed 1,091 cases of COVID-19 linked in meat and poultry plants.

The figure marks the lowest weekly rise in meat factories in a number of weeks.

Last week, director of public health in the midwest Dr Mai Mannix said there were 20 clusters out of 56 large-scale factories and testing of all staff had been carried out in eight plants.

In correspondence from Minister for Health Simon Harris to Independent TD Denis Naughten seen by the Irish Farmers Journal, he outlines where the 20 clusters are located across the country.

Minister Harris writes there are “... nine facilities affected in HSE North East, three in HSE Midlands, three in HSE Midwest, two in HSE East and one each in HSE South, HSE South East, HSE West.”

The letter continues that 29 cases have been hospitalised and seven cases were admitted to the intensive care unit but no deaths have been reported.

Community tracing

Deputy Naughten raised concerns over community contact tracing last week.

In response, Dr Mai Mannix was emphatic on the point that “contact tracing of workplace contacts is 100%”.

However, she admitted that it was lower in community settings.

“In relation to community contacts, this is often done via the contact-tracing centres. The information I have from speaking with my colleagues around the country is that this is about 90% complete, but there was one instance where the estimation was 60% to 70%.”

Deputy Naughten is seeking a meeting with Dr Mannix on the issue.

Inspectors

The Department of Business told the Irish Farmers Journal that 500 additional inspectors have now been sourced to assist the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) with inspections in workplaces. They said 250 of these inspectors have been sourced from the Department of Agriculture.

It’s understood that a large majority of these inspectors will be the 250 veterinary staff employed by the Department of Agriculture who are currently operating in factories.

A spokesperson for the Veterinary Officers Association (VOA), said the HSA plans were still at the “infancy stage”.

“The HSA will provide us with checklists and we’ll provide a reporting role,” he said. “We wouldn’t be the enforcement, we’d be the eyes on the ground.”

The Department of Business said they expected “a very small minority of cases” would need to be referred by the new inspectorate to the HSA.

Separately, the Irish Farmers Journal understands that at least one factory is retesting workers for COVID-19 and the HSA began inspecting dairy processors last week.