Food manufacturing: a high-risk environment for COVID-19 virus transmission?
Free online seminar: 13:00-14.30pm, 3 March 2022
In the early stages of the pandemic, food manufacturing facilities – especially meat processing plants – came to be seen as a particular cause of concern, with a number of major outbreaks of the COVID-19 virus reported to be associated with them.
There has been conjecture as to if and why food manufacturing may present a particularly high-risk environment for transmission of the virus, and what other factors may be at play.
This free online seminar, presented by the PROTECT COVID-19 National Core Study on transmission and environment, will explore whether these concerns are borne out by the evidence, assessing risk factors and mitigations in the sector, investigating outbreaks and identifying lessons learnt.
This event will be of interest to those working in and around the food sector, including business, workers, trade associations and unions, as well as relevant government policymakers, occupational and environmental health professionals, and researchers.
Speakers and presentations:
• Dr Yiqun Chen, Science Hubs Lead on The Right Evidence for the Future, Health and Safety Executive – COVID-19 outbreaks in the food manufacturing sector.
• Dr Barry Atkinson, Senior Virologist, and Rob Johnston, Out-Posted Food, Water and Environmental Scientist, UK Health Security Agency – Environmental surface sampling for SARS-CoV-2 in food manufacturing workplaces.
• Dr Miranda Loh, Head of Environmental and Public Health, Institute of Occupational Medicine – An interdisciplinary examination of risks and experiences of COVID-19 in the food and drink manufacturing sector.
