More than SEVENTY workers test positive for Covid-19 at dessert factory

More than SEVENTY workers test positive for Covid-19 at dessert factory that supplies Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose where bosses threatened to sack staff if they didn’t return after lockdown

  • Seventy-two people tested positive for Covid-19 at Bakkavor Desserts in Newark
  • Factory supplies Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose and has 25 plants nationwide
  • The workers were diagnosed with the virus after 701 workers  were tested

Seventy-two people have tested positive for Covid-19 at one of the UK’s largest supermarket suppliers in Nottinghamshire.

Staff at Bakkavor Desserts in Newark, which supplies Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose and has 25 plants nationwide, were diagnosed with the virus after 701 workers were tested.

The number of cases comes just months after a boss at the dessert factory’s north London plant was filmed telling staff to avoid missing shifts during lockdown. 

Following the positive cases, factory bosses have said that its 1,600 employees will now be tested at a NHS facility on their site while some 33 of those who caught the virus have now returned to work. 

Seventy-two people tested positive for Covid-19 at Bakkavor Desserts in Newark, Nottinghamshire

Business director for Bakkavor, Shona Taylor, told Sky News: ‘We understand the importance of the testing and I have been immensely proud of the management team and all the efforts that have been made to ensure we could deliver this for our colleagues. 

‘The programme has been positively received, and colleagues have been supportive and reassured that every effort is being taken to ensure their safety.’ 

The cases come after Sean Madden, head of operations at the fresh food group, was filmed telling stunned workers their futures were in doubt if they stayed at home during lockdown at the company’s north London plant in Elveden. 

The footage showed workers, seated less than the recommended six feet apart, listening to Mr Madden as he said the pandemic was leading to falling orders.

It also recorded Mr Madden saying proper social distancing measures were impossible in the factory. 

In the video he told them: ‘If we need to get rid of 200 people’s jobs next month, I’m going to look at who turned up to work and I’m going to look at who didn’t bother turning up to work

‘The people who didn’t bother turning up to work, you know, they will be the first people that we have to get rid of, unfortunately.’

He added that workers should stay at home if they were unwell or displaying symptoms. 

It was previously revealed that  Sean Madden, head of operations at fresh food group Bakkavor, was filmed telling stunned workers their futures were in doubt if they stayed at home during lockdown

It was previously revealed that  Sean Madden, head of operations at fresh food group Bakkavor, was filmed telling stunned workers their futures were in doubt if they stayed at home during lockdown

This month Northampton faced the threat of being hit by a local lockdown after nearly 300 workers at a sandwich factory that supplies M&S tested positive for coronavirus.

The Greencore food facility on the town’s Moulton Park Industrial Estate revealed 292 staff had caught Covid-19 and are self-isolating.

Local health chiefs said 79 people tested positive on the NHS, and a further 213 were spotted through Greencore’s private swabbing scheme.

The firm, thought to be the world’s largest maker of sandwiches, took the decision to proactively test workers as a result of a rise in cases in the town.

This month nearly 300 workers at the Greencore sandwich factory that supplies M&S tested positive for coronavirus

This month nearly 300 workers at the Greencore sandwich factory that supplies M&S tested positive for coronavirus

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