Top Thai meat producer shuts factory over coronavirus outbreak

Southeast Asia’s second-biggest economy is battling a new wave of COVID infections that have spread into prisons, lower socioeconomic status regions and factories.

Charoen Pokphand Foods Pcl (CP Foods) chicken products sit on display inside a grocery store in Bangkok, Thailand [File: Brent Lewin/Bloomberg]

Charoen Pokphand Foods Pcl, Thailand’s biggest meat producer, will close its factory in Saraburi province for five days to stem the novel coronavirus outbreak, according to the provincial government.

The poultry processing plant, some 100km (63 miles) north of Bangkok, will be shut from Sunday to Thursday, the provincial administration said on its Facebook page late Saturday. The closure came after the authorities found 245 employees had been infected with the virus.

Southeast Asia’s second-biggest economy is battling with a new wave of COVID-19 infections that have spread into prisons, lower socio-economic status regions and factories. Sri Trang Gloves (Thailand) Pcl and Cal-Comp Electronics (Thailand) Pcl closed some of their production sites this month to stem the spread of coronavirus among employees.

The CP Foods factory has about 5,800 employees. The provincial authority said it set up a field hospital at the factory to treat those infected.

CP Foods will start the disinfection process and tighten health measures at the factory during the closure, the company said in a statement. The company has moved the production of this factory to 18 other poultry processing facilities, it said.

Source: Bloomberg