Covid crisis at Britain's food plants: Marks & Spencer is hit by SANDWICH shortage amid FORTY coronavirus outbreaks at processing sites across UK - including a chicken factory in Norfolk where 75 staff tested positive
Marks and Spencer has been hit with a sandwich shortage after its supplier was forced to close its factory amid a surge in coronavirus cases among workers.
Greencore, which manufactures own-label sandwiches for the retailer, announced a temporary closure of its Northampton plant on Friday for at least two weeks after 292 staff tested positive for the virus.
The move has left refrigerated aisles empty of the lunchtime favourites adored by millions of office workers and shoppers on the go around the country, including prawn mayonnaise, BLT, and chicken salad. Sandwich aisles at some stores also appear to have been covered up, with the supermarket leaving a note on near-empty shelves admitting to supply issues.
The note reads: 'We are sorry for the lack of availability across our sandwich range. We are working hard to get them back in stock as soon as possible.'
In the retailer's High Street Kensington station branch, only Cheese and Onion, Tuna and Sweetcorn and Free Range Egg Watercress sandwiches are available today.
One M&S branch in Eltham, south east London receiving a solitary tray of sarnies to last the whole of Tuesday.
They were completely out of stock for the 1pm rush hour and soups had to be moved to fill the desolate shelf with not a single slice of bread in sight.
An M&S spokesperson admitted the retailer had to switch to alternative suppliers following the Greencore closure and said it had prioritise some of the more popular sandwiches to ensure something would be on the shelves today.
They insisted the shortage would be resolved 'within days' and told MailOnline: 'We are working closely with our suppliers to source from alternative sites to help protect availability of our most popular lines for customers.'
However, a staff member told one hungry shopper their stocks would not be back to normal for the rest of the week with hopes the supply issue will be resolved by early next week.
The supply shortage comes in the midst of a Covid crisis plaguing Britain's food plants, with the head of the Food Standards Agency revealing there are at least 40 active outbreaks in factories in England alone - with more recorded in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Dr Colin Sullivan, Chief Operating Officer at the FSA, admitted the figure is not comprehensive, and may be higher, but said: 'The number that I mentioned, was one we are content to make public. It is a small number of a big total.'
A huge chicken factory in Norfolk is the latest plant forced to close with 350 families put into isolation after 75 workers tested positive for coronavirus.
Banham Poultry, in the village of Attleborough, voluntarily agreed to close its cutting room following an outbreak of the virus.
The first case of Covid was reported last Friday, when one worker said they felt unwell. By Monday, seven out of 15 tested were found to have the virus.
Almost 400 workers have now been tested, though officials claim that any potential geographical spread of the virus from Banham Poultry is low.
It comes as:
- Matt Hancock chairs a meeting on local lockdowns amid fears Birmingham could be next to face tougher restrictions;
- The Health Secretary earlier insisted that £13 a day is enough for low-paid workers in COVID-hit areas to survive on as they self-isolate;
- Europe's second wave continues with France's Covid-19 R rate hitting 1.4, Spain topping the US in cases per million and Italy recording its highest daily case toll since May;
- Ministers are expected to make a decision tonight on whether to add Switzerland, the Czech Republic or Jamaica to the UK's quarantine travel list;
- Fears of flu and Covid-19 straining the NHS this winter grow as data shows number of at-risk adults getting free influenza jab is the lowest in eight years;
- CBI boss Carolyn Fairbairn demanded Boris Johnson leads UK firms back to work to revive the struggling economy;
- Footfall in town and city centre streets has stagnated in recent weeks, figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed this morning.
Only a few sandwiches are available at the M&S branch at High Street Kensington after a plant that supplies the retailer closed amid a surge in coronavirus cases
The store posted the following message to customers apologising for the lack availability across it sandwich range amid supply issues
Banham Poultry in the village of Attleborough will shut its cutting room tomorrow morning as the factory voluntarily agrees to close following an outbreak of coronavirus
Some sandwich sections, such as this one on Kensington High Street, appear to have been covered up following the coronavirus outbreak in a plant that supplies M&S with sandwiches
The outbreak has however sparked fears that Norfolk will be plunged back into a local lockdown - with the county the subject of a government review later today.
Customers today hit out at the sandwich shortage at M&S.
One customer wrote on Twitter: 'Well Covid has finally had a significant impact on my life @marksandspencer this morning and NO SANDWICHES due to an outbreak at their factory. Normal service to be resumed soon.'
A second added: 'My son ordered sandwiches for after his father-in-law's funeral. You lot let him down. Shameful.'
While a third said: ' Can someone please explain to me @marksandspencer as too why when asked there has been no deliveries in sandwiches for 3 days in the @brentcross_sc branch? A little embarrassing.'
Sandwich platters usually available to buy online and collect in store have been removed from the 'food to order' section of the M&S website and marked as out of stock.
Charlotte Lorimer wrote: '@marksandspencer have you stopped doing your sandwich platters? I can't see them on line?' and was told to check the food to order range 'again soon'.
Greencore, which employs more than 2,100 people at its Northampton factory, initially intended to continue operating despite rocketing cases.
But the company announced its East Midlands base would shut on Friday 'as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak in the Northampton area and at the site'.
Staff and members of their households will now self-isolate for 14 days as a precautionary measure.
Greencore said it was working 'to bring the site back safely into production as soon as possible' and would move sandwich production to different factories to prevent rationing.
A spokesman for the food group said: 'We have moved a proportion of production from the Northampton facility to other sites within the Greencore network, and are working with the affected customer to help mitigate any shortfall.'
Britain has been hit by a food processing crisis after an outbreak of coronavirus cases.
Other major food producers, such as Cranswick and 2 Sisters Food Group, have also closed plants following a surge in cases among staff.
Experts have suggested the cold conditions inside the plants may be conducive to the spread of the virus.
Although the FSA's statement only mentions factories in England, there have already been cases of plants closes in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
A chicken processing plant run by 2 Sisters in Coupar Angus, Scotland, has seen the number of cases among its staff pass well over 100, forcing it to close, while a facility run by Cranswick in County Antrim became the first in Northern Ireland to be shut down because of a surge in cases.
Plants in Anglesey and Wrexham in Wales were among the first in the UK to register a crisis in cases among staff, forcing them to close.
FSA boss Dr Sullivan is a member of a taskforce set up by the food and farming department, DEFRA, which also includes Public Health England (PHE) and the Health & Safety Executive. (HSE)
He argued the figure of 40 active outbreaks in England should be seen as small when set against the total number of food processing plants.
He told the board: 'To put the figures in context, across England, Wales and Northern Ireland there are more than 20,000 food processing plants. Only a very small number have been impacted.
'We are always going to have a number of these as long as Covid is present, given the many factors that are present in food processing plants; the conditions, the aerosol issues, the way people work close by each other, the fact that staff in plants sometimes live together, sometimes travel together. All those issues need to be managed.
'Some of these – outbreaks - will be higher profile than others and with improved testing and apps coming on, one hopes the numbers will reduce.'
The FSA's chief executive, Emily Miles, stressed there is no need for alarm, saying: 'The risk of transmission of Covid-19 through the consumption or handling of food, or food packaging, remains very low.
Only a few sandwiches appear to be available for M&S customers at its Kensington High Street branch, following the closure of a plant that supplies the retailer
'There have been a small number of Covid 19 outbreaks associated with meat and food processing places and we have been supporting the Health & Safety Executive, Public Health England, Public Health Wales and other bodies in their work to deal with those.'
She added: 'The FSA has to be here to tell the truth about food. People need to be able to turn to us and get the facts about food and Covid 19. The risk assessment led by our very brilliant scientists, who have been assessing and re-assessing the evidence that we are learning about Covid 19 is saying that the risk is extremely low.'
The latest outbreak in Norfolk has driven fears of a local lockdown in the area, despite Dr Louise Smith, director of Public Health England in Norfolk, ruling one out.
She said: 'At this point what we are doing is a very specific localised lockdown to a very specific setting, the who work there and their households.
'We do not anticipate the need for a geographical or town-based lockdown at this stage and we would only move to that kind of measure if we were getting evidence of spread in the general public that could not be linked to a specific location, such as this outbreak.
'We are not at that level at this stage and the background level of infection in Norfolk outside of this outbreak is low.'
However, the Government could decide in its review today to overrule local chiefs and shut the chicken factory completely.
The outbreak has sparked fears that Norfolk will be plunged back into lockdown - with the county the subject of a central government review today
Dr Louise Smith, director of Public Health England in Norfolk, told the Eastern Daily Press that she was ruling out an immediate local lockdown in the county
Norfolk County Council is understood to be considering whether they need to speak with other meat factories in the county.
In a statement yesterday, Banham Poultry's managing director Blaine van Rensburg said the management team was working to prevent any further spread.'The safety of our staff, customers and the wider public is really important to us and we are working with public health authorities to make sure we are doing absolutely everything we can and following all of the correct procedures,' he said.
Norfolk County Council, which sent letters to 450,000 Norfolk homes just last week reminding people that coronavirus was 'still with us', urged people concerned about contracting the virus is to 'remember the basics'.
Steve Morphew, leader of the opposition Labour group at Norfolk County Council, said: 'This outbreak shows the critical importance of making sure we learn the lessons and ensure there are enough resources to respond swiftly.
'We know delays are costly in every sense so we must make sure our public health team can do the job we need from them. '
Attleborough mayor Philip Leslie said he had expected to see an increase in confirmed cases, but moved to reassure the town's residents.
He said: 'They have tested all 300 staff which I think has been exceptional - we are very grateful for public health England, their quick response and the way they have escalated resources to tackle it. However, it will raise eyebrows within the community to see such a large number of confirmed cases.
'So the main thing for us as a town council, is to keep on top of the situation and reassure that residents it seems to be isolated at Banham Poultry alone.
'We will remain vigilant and keep following government guidance. But we also need to have good practice within our homes as well.
'People are becoming a little lax and don't follow rules in their own homes.
'We need to work hard at recognising that this is still a real issue.
'We don't have the vaccine in place yet or the long-term solution so we need to treat it as seriously we did a few months ago. We as a community are keeping our ears to the ground and ready to act on advice that comes.'
As news has emerged of food factories around the world experiencing outbreaks of Covid-19, experts have suggested conditions inside the plants may be conducive to the spread of the virus.
Workers at a meat processing plant (stock image). Dr Sullivan added there was some evidence that food processing plants could be more susceptibly to outbreaks of the disease
Greencore in Northampton said nearly 300 staff there have tested positive for Covid-19 and are self-isolating
Dr Simon Clarke, a cellular microbiologist at the University of Reading, told MailOnline that it was notable that food factories seemed to have been the centre of outbreaks more than other factories where people might be close together.
He said: 'There are problems in this country, in Germany, in the United States. There is something common between them - it's not happening in engineering or clothing factories where you also might expect people to be in close proximity to one another.
'One assumes - but it's just an idea - that the cold environment makes people more susceptible to the virus.
'Cold weather irritates the airways and the cells become more susceptible to viral infection.'
Dr Chris Smith, a virologist at the University of Cambridge, said on LBC 'temperature is going to play a part'.
He explained: 'When I'm breathing I'm blowing out droplets of moisture from my respiratory tract and the virus which is growing in there would be packaged up in the droplets.
It comes as Britain yesterday recorded 16 more coronavirus deaths as Scotland's six-week run of no fatalities was ended with the announcement of two new victims
'Now the droplets will hover for a period of time in the air and then sink to the ground... and if it's very dry, cold air - and cold air carries less moisture, remember - the droplets will stay smaller and stay airborne for longer.
'If it's very humid, moisture joins them, makes them bigger and heavier, and they fall and they drop out of circulation faster - so temperature could be a factor.'
Sunlight is also known to degrade viruses and make them less able to survive on surfaces that are exposed to UV light.
Rays of sunlight are thought to damage the genetic material inside the virus, making it less able to reproduce and killing it faster.
Professor Calum Semple, a disease outbreak expert at the University of Liverpool, told The Telegraph that cold, sunless food factories are ideal conditions.
He said: 'If I wanted to preserve a virus I would put it in a cold, dark environment or a cool environment that doesn't have any ultraviolet light - essentially a fridge or a meat processing facility...
'The perfect place to keep a virus alive for a long time is a cold place without sunlight.'
But the temperature alone does not appear to be a controlling factor in coronavirus outbreaks.
Dr Michael Head, a global health researcher at the University of Southampton, said he thought close proximity was most likely to be behind the factory outbreaks.
He said: 'Whilst refrigeration may be a contributory factor to the spread of the virus, the key factors are likely to be the number of people close together in indoor conditions.
'Some of these factories have onsite or nearby accommodation where there are several people in each dormitory, they may be transported on a bus to the site of work, and they will be indoors together all day.
'Levels of adherence to measures such as washing hands is uncertain and there is unlikely to be widespread use of PPE.'
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