HAMBURGO (Reuters) – The German slaughterhouse was affected by an outbreak of coronavirus that led to a moment of blockade for the entire region reopened its slaughterhouse on Thursday, although it is unclear the effect of the new hygiene measures on the plant’s capacity.
Authorities said Wednesday that toennies abattoir in Rheda-Wiedenbrueck could resume operations after strengthening protection and fitness procedures. The meat processing and packaging plant remains closed, but must be inspected on Thursday.
The site, which is mainly for the pig farming sector in Germany, closed in mid-June after about 1,500 employees tested positive for COVID-19. The outbreak in turn led to the closure of some 600,000 people in the surrounding guetersloh region, which has since risen.
“It is now that a lot of other people are slaughtered in Rheda,” said Torsten Staack, director of the ISN agreement of German pig breeders.
“There are now around 400,000 pigs waiting to be slaughtered, about a part of the volume of Germany’s total in a week.”
The Rheda-Wiedenbrueck plant in North Rhine-Westphalia kills about 14% of German pigs.
Karl-Josef Laumann, Minister of Employment and Health of North Rhine-Westphalia, said the effect of new hygiene measures on production capacity was unclear.
The number of animals that can be treated through Toennies will depend on the desire to ensure that no worker sees their fitness in danger in any way, Laumann said on the German television channel ZDF.
“We will start with 6,000 to 8,000 animals,” said a Toennies spokesman, adding that the capacity will be adapted to ensure that the new hygiene procedures are fully followed.
Reporting through Michael Hogan; Edited through David Goodman
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