Greggs factory closes amid coronavirus outbreak

The bakery chain was forced to temporarily shut a depot last month after an outbreak.

Workers have been told to self isloate after a Covid outbreak at a Greggs factory (AFP via Getty Images)

Greggs has closed one of its factories in the North East after an outbreak of coronavirus.

The bakery chain closed its Balliol Business Park factory on Wednesday afternoon after “small number” of workers tested positive for COVID-19.

A spokeswoman told The Independent that Greggs was unable to confirm exactly how many people had caught the virus, but those who had are being asked to self isolate while the rest of the staff are being tested.

The factory, which employs 300 staff and makes its savoury snacks such as steak bakes and sausage rolls, will have a deep clean before reopening at a later date.

The spokeswoman added that a stock shortage was unlikely as there is “lots of stock” at the facility which is ready for use.

It’s the second time Greggs has been forced to temporarily close one of its working areas after an outbreak of the illness.

Last month, one its depots in Bramley, west Leeds, was closed after around 10 to 19 workers tested positive for the virus.

Greggs closed the depot promptly and deep cleaned the area and tested all of its staff. It then reopened several days later.

Other factories that have been affected by outbreaks at work include M&S and two meat factories.

A chicken plant, called 2 Sisters, in Anglesey, Wales, temporarily shut after more than 150 employees at the 560-strong plant tested positive for the virus in June.

A total of 75 people at the Banham Poultry factory in Attleborough, Norfolk, tested positive for the illness last month. 

Meanwhile Greencore factory in Northampton, which supplies M&S with its prepacked sandwiches, saw nearly 300 people receive a positive COVID-19 test in August.

Each factory told its workers all of its workers or those who tested positive to self isolate before deep cleaning the facility.

Yesterday the Government said that as of 9am on Wednesday, there had been a further 6,178 lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK, taking the overall number of confirmed cases to 409,729.

It also said a further 37 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for COVID-19 as of Wednesday. This brings the UK total to 41,862.

But figures published by the UK’s statistics agencies show there have now been 57,500 deaths registered in the UK where COVID-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.

Additional reporting by agencies