This past week Charoen Pokphand Foods announced a temporary closure of a broiler plant in Saraburi Province in Thailand. The facility will be closed for five days as a result of an outbreak of COVID. Approximately 250 cases were diagnosed among 5,800 workers. The ascending incidence rate of COVID in Thailand has resulted in closure of numerous industrial plants and has resulted in local lockdowns.
Processing plants in Thailand are characterized by a high level of manual labor especially in secondary processing with workers standing shoulder to shoulder on portioning and deboning lines creating ideal conditions for transmission of a viral respiratory infection by the aerogenous route. An additional risk factor comprises long commutes in crammed buses transporting workers from distant villages to plants.
It will be necessary to expedite vaccination of workers and supervisors in the broiler industry in Thailand if integrators are intent on maintaining production.