(Fighting against New Coronary Pneumonia) What is the impact of the intensive "fall" of global meat processing plants?
China News Service, Beijing, June 25th Question: Global meat processing factories are intensively "fallen" Affecting geometry?
China News Agency reporter Ma Jiajia
Recently, meat processing factories in many countries around the world have successively "stroke", and a large number of employees have been infected with the new corona virus. In this global battle against the New Coronary Pneumonia epidemic, meat processing plants in many places have frequently "fallen and fallen." The high infection rate and the large impact range make people worry. Multiple high-risk factors may cause the meat processing plant to become a hotbed for the survival and spread of the new coronavirus.
Multinational meat processing plants intensively "fall"
Many meat processing plants around the world have recently become new cluster epidemic outbreak centers.
In the Americas, which has the worst epidemic in the world, according to incomplete statistics, as of May 20, there have been 216 meat processing plants in the United States, nearly 20,000 meat processing plant employees have been diagnosed, and more than 70 meat industry personnel have died. . A large meat processing plant in Canada reported more than 1,200 people were infected with new coronary pneumonia. At least nine meat processing plants in Brazil reported a new crown epidemic.
In Europe, Britain, Germany, and Spain all have clustered cases of meat processing plants. Recently, there have been two new food processing plants in the UK that have successively experienced new pneumonia outbreaks. Among them, Ron Foods, with 38 employees diagnosed with the infection, is responsible for providing processed foods to major supermarkets in the UK. Another company specializes in supplying bacon products for the UK's largest supermarket chain, Asda. Earlier, the British two sister food group had a new pneumonia outbreak in a poultry processing plant in Wales, and the number of diagnoses has now risen to 75. According to German media reports on the 24th, there are two new meat-packing factories in Germany with new epidemic clusters. Earlier, more than 1,500 people were infected with new coronary pneumonia at a meat processing plant in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. In Spain, two meat processing plants in the province of Huesca, nearly 27% of employees infected with the new crown, the final number of diagnoses was 374 people.
In Oceania, a slaughterhouse in the outskirts of Melbourne, Australia, eight employees tested positive for the new crown and the factory was temporarily closed. In Ireland, nearly a third of workers at a meat processing plant in County Tipperary are infected with the new crown. The factory is the largest pork processing factory in Ireland and one of McDonald's suppliers.
Multiple factors create a high risk of virus transmission
First, the low-temperature operating environment of the meat processing plant provides objective conditions for the survival and spread of the new coronavirus. The vast majority of experts around the world hold the same view that the new coronavirus can survive for a longer time in a low temperature environment. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) research believes that in order to prevent food spoilage and contamination by food-borne disease pathogens, a strong ventilation system will be installed in the meat processing plant to maintain the low temperature under the enclosed conditions of the plant. However, in a low-temperature environment, the virus can survive longer, and workers in this environment are more likely to be exposed to the virus.
Second, the labor-intensive nature of meat processing plants has led to an increase in the probability of passing on from person to person. Under normal circumstances, the working environment of meat processing factories around the world is relatively crowded. Most employees even work side by side, it is difficult to maintain a "one meter" or "two meters" social safety distance. The close distance makes it easier to spread the virus. In addition, as manual workers, it is more difficult for workers to wear masks throughout the journey, and insufficient personal protection also increases the risk of infection.
Third, the backward living conditions of workers also increase the possibility of rapid spread of the epidemic. Meat processing consumes a lot of energy, low remuneration, and most of the practitioners have a poor living environment. There are generally a large number of people gathering and living. Long-term close contact with a large number of people also increases the risk of infection. According to foreign media reports, many German meat factories tend to hire guest laborers from Central and Eastern European countries. Not only do they have poor living and working conditions, but they cannot obtain any guarantees.
Global meat supply pushed to "dangerous edge"
The epidemic of New Coronary Pneumonia continues to spread worldwide, and food processing companies in many countries have been hit hard. Frequent cluster infections recently caused many food processing giants' factories to be closed or shut down one after another, and the global meat supply has been pushed to the “dangerous edge”.
Singapore's Lianhe Zaobao said that many meat processing plants in the United States, Brazil, Canada and the world have been shut down due to the new crown epidemic. Three countries supply 65% of the meat to the global market. As more and more factories are affected by the new crown virus The shutdown triggered market concerns about the insufficient supply of global meat.
Japan's "Fuji Sankei Shimbun" said that before the spread of African swine fever, the global meat supply was already tight. Now, the spread of the New Coronary Pneumonia epidemic has caused restaurants around the world to shut down, some meat companies have reduced their production capacity, and then the meat processing plants in the Americas have shut down. Brett Stewart, president of the American consulting firm "Global Agricultural Trends," said, "The shortage of meat supply is unprecedented and is a lose-lose situation. Producers are at risk of bankruptcy, while consumers are at risk of rising prices." ( Finish)