Outbreaks* in the food system highlight the fragility of food supply chains and the vital role played by workers in these industries which tends to be particularly reliant on migrants. Whilst workers in food industries, including seasonal migrant workers, were qualified as essential workers they continued to go to work to ensure the agri-food supply chain continues to feed the nation through the COVID-19 pandemic. The Outbreak Tracker maps out outbreaks at the regional level and across three industries: fruit and vegetable farms, meat factories and fish and seafood factories.
The methodology used to identify the outbreaks is media analysis of national and local newspapers which reported outbreaks, using search words for the period March 2020-May 2021. One limitation is that not all outbreaks were reported in the media and represented here are only those which the reporter identified as 'outbreak'. In addition, the national testing capacity was scaled up in June 2020 with the majority of outbreaks reported taking place after this date.
Overall, 24 outbreaks were identified in these industries, with four in five of these taking place in meat factories, one in six on fruit and vegetable farms and two on seafood factories. Not only were outbreaks more likely to take place in meat factories, they also affected more people as they tend to employ more workers. 4 deaths are directly associated with outbreaks in the Tracker. Outbreaks on these sites routinely triggered factory closure and had an impact on the local communities.
