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By Caroline Copley
BERLIN (Reuters) – An outbreak of COVID-19 in Germany is forcing meat packing plants to read about the threat of infection posed through their cooling systems, hitting the industry amid developing global considerations on the airborne transmission of the coronavirus.
Toennies, an abattoir and meat producer, closed one of its factories in western Germany in June after more than 1,500 employees became inflamed with the virus.
You are now updating your other sites. “We expect the government to publish it as an industry-wide requirement,” said one spokesman.
Low temperatures, which sometimes allow viruses to stay longer in the air, and overcrowded situations have made meat packing plants a coronavirus hot spots.
To keep temperatures between 6 and 10 degrees Celsius (43-50 degrees F), ventilation systems draw air from meat packaging rooms and cool it before re-injecting, increasing the threat of spreading droplets loaded with viruses.
The World Health Organization last week issued new rules on airborne transmission of the virus, and its technical leader in the pandemic said the drops were under the impression of being the maximum and unusual direction of infection.
The EU’s public aptitude framework assesses the hazards posed by workplace ventilation systems, while the German Minister of Agriculture has also asked other low-temperature industries, such as dairy and fish processing, to carry out assessments.
There are about 1,500 meat production plants in Germany, according to the Federal Bureau of Statistics.
The country’s meat industry agreement said other corporations were testing ventilation filters, but their effectiveness in preventing the spread of COVID-19 is not well enough to present updates.
The fisheries industry agreement said the hazards were lower than those of the meat industry because its plants operated with fewer people and higher temperatures.
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Before it could reopen, Toennies also had to install ultraviolet (UV) irradiation systems in parts of the plant where red meat is processed.
A UV lamp that kills germs with radiation can charge a few thousand euros, while upgrading a meat packing corridor can be only a five-figure sum, said Christian Rueth, head of marketing and sales for UV disinfection formula manufacturer Heraeus Noblelight GmbH.
Since the Toennies outbreak, the company has noticed “more than double” surveys in the frozen meat, fish, fruit and vegetables and milk sectors.
Low temperatures can decrease UV radiation performance, meaning plants install stronger lamps, said Christoph Kaup, CEO of ventilation device manufacturer Howarth. His company has also noticed expanding demands, adding offices and gyms.
HEPA filters are less expensive but have superior maintenance and fixed prices because they tend to get temporarily dirty with dust, he said.
Martin Exner, a public fitness expert at the University of Bonn who knew the Toennies ventilation formula as an imaginable virus promoter, said corporations that used airflow formulas to cool air had “special attention” and needed to expand new hygiene plans.
It remained to be seen if such ventilation systems could pose a problem beyond industry, for example in cinemas or offices.
But if people were crowded together in rooms where the air was being recycled, the topic needed consideration, he said.
(Reporting through Caroline Copley; edited through John Stonestreet)