More than 600 staff members at Peter’s Pies being tested for coronavirus

A mobile coronavirus testing unit has been set up at the Peter’s Pies factory in Bedwas to test all 613 staff members at the company.

The testing unit was set up on Tuesday (October 20) and will remain open today (Wednesday, October 21).

It comes after 19 staff members tested positive for coronavirus over the last week.

Four employees tested positive for the virus last week, with the company saying these cases are linked to “community transmission”.

Colleagues who came into close contact with these cases were sent home and “excluded” from the site.

Six of these excluded workers later tested positive for coronavirus.

This week, a further nine cases were confirmed at the company, but a statement released by Peter’s Pies said it believes seven of these cases are unrelated to any other virus case at the company.

The decision to test all staff members was made by Caerphilly County Borough Council’s environmental health team.

A company statement read: “As soon as a colleague informs us that they have received a positive result they are excluded from site and we contact the local authorities to ensure that the track and trace process is implemented.

“Our understanding is that the rationale for conducting a 100% testing of colleagues is the increased number of Covid-19 test results reported in recent days.  

“Peter’s has been told that the decision is not a reflection on the controls in place in the factory as these have been reviewed and are very good and there has been minimal positive Covid-19 or asymptomatic cases.  

“At this stage the authority [Caerphilly County Borough Council’s environmental health team] still believes the transmission is through the community, however, they need to understand the bigger picture to identify if this is the start of onward transmission within the factory environment.” 

Meanwhile, a mobile testing unit will open at Senghenydd Rugby Club on Wednesday (October 21), while the test centre at Caerphilly Leisure Centre will remain open until Monday, October 26.