By Luke Voogt
The Colac abattoir at the centre of southwestern Victoria’s worst COVID-19 outbreak has recorded no second surge of cases after an employee tested positive last week.
Australian Lamb Company today announced that about 550 employees at its Colac abattoir had tested negative following a new confirmed case last Monday (August 24).
Health professionals tested all employees at the abattoir after a Geelong man, who works in its afternoon boning room shift, tested positive.
The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) advised Australian Lamb Company that all 102 employees in the shift had tested negative, the company said in a statement.
The employees were completing a 14-day quarantine and were due to undertake a second round of testing on today, Australian Lamb Company said.
The Geelong man who tested positive last worked at the abattoir on Friday, August 21, and was “recovering well” while competing a 14-day quarantine, the company said.
His case is not related to 83 confirmed cases in a outbreak at the abattoir in July, according to Australian Lamb Company.
That outbreak was the worst so far in the Barwon South West region, which includes Geelong, according to DHHS data.
The department conducted testing on the abattoir’s roughly 450 other employees, who all returned negative results, Australian Lamb Company said.
As these workers were not in close contact with the infected employee, they had permission to work and no requirement to quarantine, the company said.
“We are pleased to say our COVID-19 health and safety measures are working,” Australian Lamb Company said.
“However, as we all acknowledge, we still have a long way to go to beat this thing.
“As a result, we are stepping up, not stepping back, our testing, monitoring, education and support activities.”
Australian Lamb Company had reduced processing and employee numbers, which included introducing smaller, separated teams and work spaces at the Colac abattoir.
The company said it had introduced new personal protective equipment, including face shields, improved cleaning and increased social distancing in canteen and amenity areas.
“Australian Lamb Company would like to thank its employees for their continuing commitment to the highest standards of health and safety within the company and their efforts to stop the transmission of the virus at work, and within the broader community.”
