Coronavirus Outbreaks Rip Through European Slaughterhouses
- Cases have recently climbed at Irish, German processing plants
- Up-tick comes as plants in the U.S. have become virus hotspots
Employees enter a Westfleisch meat processing plant in Hamm, Germany on May 11.
Photographer: Marcel Kusch/picture alliance via Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
More than 1,000 workers at European slaughterhouses have contracted Covid-19, highlighting the growing challenges the global meat industry faces from the pandemic.
In Ireland, 556 workers in 10 meat-processing facilities tested positive as of last week, the nation’s health department said. The Robert Koch Institute, which publishes daily Covid-19 reports in Germany, said there have been outbreaks at plants in three districts. At least two have been shuttered.