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Coronavirus: Virus outbreaks push Germany to clean up abattoirs
May 20, 2020
Germany has agreed a proposal to ban the use of temporary workers at slaughterhouses following a spate of coronavirus infections.
Hundreds of people working at abattoirs across Germany and France have tested positive for Covid-19 in recent weeks.
Many workers have arrived from Romania on flights chartered by farmers.
Health experts are looking at possible reasons for the outbreaks, including overcrowded accommodation and cold conditions at processing facilities.
On Wednesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet agreed a draft proposal preventing subcontractors - largely migrant workers - from processing meat at plants from January 2021.
Any violation of the new rules by abattoir owners could result in a fine of up to €30,000 (£26,800; $32,900), the proposal states.
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Countries across Europe started closing their borders to non-essential travel and reinstating checkpoints in March, to try to limit the spread of coronavirus.
However, European farm workers - largely from Romania - are among the few permitted to travel. As many as 30,000 Romanians have been flown to Germany to work in the food industry.
'Ashamed' by mass infection of Romanians
The issue of poor working conditions in German meat-packing factories was raised after a cluster of coronavirus infections were recorded at a slaughterhouse in the western German city of Münster over the weekend.
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