Over 100 employees at a Kepak meat processing factory in Cornwall have tested positive for Covid-19 and are now self-isolating.
A total of 271 staff members have been tested over the past week at the Bodmin site, and 106 workers tested positive.
The Irish-based meat firm, which works across 43 countries, has been working with Cornwall Council and Public Health England.
Testing has been done though Kepak's own on-site lateral flow tests, local NHS testing, and the use of a Mobile Testing Unit (MTU) which visited the site last week.
Of the 106 positive cases, roughly 80-85 percent were asymptomatic, according to Cornwall Council, adding that testing is continuing at the site.
Hundreds of workers have tested positive for Covid-19 at meat processing plants and abattoirs across the country.
They include a chicken processing factory in Anglesey, where scores of workers were infected, and sites in Wrexham and West Yorkshire.
The UK is not the only country to have experienced outbreaks in meat plants, Germany, the United States and France also have.
Rachel Wigglesworth, Cornwall Council's director of public health said:?"Staff who have tested positive are now self-isolating in line with public health guidance and are being given support.
“Outbreaks such as this are always tough for everyone involved, but we have worked with Kepak and our health service partners in taking quick and robust action to help stop the virus spreading."
She added: “It is also a stark reminder that Covid-19 often comes with no symptoms, meaning people can easily pass the virus on without knowing they have it.
"I would urge everyone to keep following the government’s guidance to halt the spread of the virus and get a test when required to do so.”
A spokesperson for Kepak Group said: “Kepak is providing support to any staff member who needs to self-isolate due to either a positive result or being a close contact of a confirmed case.?
"We are working closely the Public Health case review team to ensure that all contacts are identified.
"The group is working tirelessly to protect its staff as well as ensuring the continuity of secure food supply during this pandemic.
"All staff members returning to work are following the company’s Covid-19 return to work guidelines”.
