A new Corona hotspot had recently become known. A few days ago, 92 employees of the Westcrown meat company in Dissen (Osnabrück district) had tested positive for the contagious and dangerous virus. Now another 54 employees have tested positive. This means that more than half of the company’s approximately 280 employees have already become infected. After the slaughterhouse was initially continued in emergency operation, the company will now be closed for the next two weeks.
38 of the 54 infected persons were already in quarantine as contact persons for the previously infected employees. Another 16 people have to quarantine because of the positive test. The authorities are currently busy locating these people’s contacts. For many experts, the lack of hygiene conditions in the company has caused criticism. Daniela Reim of “Work and Life”, for example, is now asking politicians to act. Because the workplace at this slaughterhouse offers the corona virus the best opportunities to spread.
The hygienic conditions in the meat industry are now also an issue among politicians. The Federal Cabinet has now responded to the massive corona infections. From 2024, no more contracts may be concluded in slaughterhouses. This means that in the future, slaughtering and processing meat should only be permitted by the company’s own employees. According to the decision of the Federal Cabinet, this applies to large companies whose core business is slaughtering and meat processing. As a result of the high number of infected employees, the state government in Lower Saxony had also ordered mass tests for all meat processing companies that support subcontractors with this work.
