A chicken processing plant belonging to CP Foods in Kaeng Khoi district of this central province has been closed after 245 of its workers were found to have Covid-19.
The factory has about 5,800 workers and 3,400 had been tested, Saraburi governor Manrat Ratanasukhon said in a letter to the Interior Ministry on Saturday.
Results were available for 765 of the 3,400 workers tested, and 245 — almost a third — were positive.
The infected were immediately sent to Kaeng Khoi Hospital for treatment. A 160-bed field hospital was also set up at the Chetkhot-Pong Kon Sao scout camp in Kaeng Khoi district, with 49 Covid patients admitted there so far.
The factory’s owner, Charoen Pokpand Foods Plc, was building a separate field hospital on its premises, Mr Manrat said. It was designed to accommodate up to 400 patients.
The factory was closed for disinfection from May 30-June 3.
Activing case-finding had continued to cover all workers at the factory, with the remaining test results expected on Sunday.
The provincial health office had told workers’ family members and others who had been in close contact with them to take Covid-19 tests at Saraburi Hospital on Sunday from 9am-noon.
Workers awaiting test results who were considered high-risk had been quarantined for 14 days at a facility provided by the district health office.
Those deemed low-risk were asked to self-isolate for 14 days.
The chicken factory closure comes after.Sri Trang Gloves (Thailand) Plc and Cal-Comp Electronics (Thailand) Plc closed some of their production sites this month to stem the spread of coronavirus among employees.
bkkpost
