Walkers confirms 28 factory workers in Leicester have coronavirus

Updated 1 July 2020 at 9:38 am·3-min read

CARDIFF, UNITED KINGDOM - SEPTEMBER 21: Multiple bags of Walkers crisps on display in a supermarket on September 21, 2017 in Cardiff, United Kingdom. (Photo by Matthew Horwood/Getty Images) — In total, 28 people who work at the Walkers factory in Leicester have tested positive for coronavirus. (Getty)

Walkers Crisps has confirmed that 28 staff members at a factory in Leicester have tested positive for COVID-19.

The city became became the first in the UK to be placed back into lockdown on Monday night after 944 new cases were identified in the last two weeks.

Walkers said the rise in infections at the plant in Beaumont Leys, which has 1,400 employees, coincided with increased testing in Leicester.

It added that a track and trace system at the factory had shown the virus did not break out there.

A Walkers spokesman said: "We have shared our data and analysis with the health authorities and they support the view that our situation reflects transmission in the community and we do not have a transmission issue on site.

"In light of the recent increase in cases in Leicester, we have been proactively reinforcing the importance of continued vigilance on site."

The company said employees with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 were self-isolating on full pay.

A number of other food processing plants in Leicester have had confirmed cases, including Samworth Brothers and Pladis, which makes biscuits for McVitie’s.

Boris Johnson has paid tribute to the people of the city for their “forbearance” in accepting the return of controls including the shutting of non-essential shops and the closure of schools to most children.

However, there was frustration among businesses at having to turn away customers just as the rest of England was preparing for a further opening up with the return of pubs, restaurants and cinemas on Saturday.

People wearing masks to protect against coronavirus, walk in Melton Road also known as the Golden Mile in Leicester, England, Tuesday June 30, 2020. The British government has reimposed lockdown restrictions in the English city of Leicester after a spike in coronavirus infections, including the closure of shops that don't sell essential goods and schools. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira) — Leicester became the first UK city to be placed back into lockdown on Monday. (Getty)

Members of the army work at a coronavirus testing station set up in Victoria Park in Leicester, England, Tuesday June 30, 2020. The British government has reimposed lockdown restrictions in the English city of Leicester after a spike in coronavirus infections, including the closure of shops that don't sell essential goods and schools. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira) — Members of the army work at a coronavirus testing station set up in Victoria Park in Leicester. (AP)

During PMQs on Wednesday, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer blamed the prime minister for a "lost week while the virus was spreading", alleging local authorities were not given full coronavirus data.

The PM rejected this claim, saying: “The Right Honourable Gentleman is mistaken. Both pillar 1 and pillar 2 data have been shared, not just in Leicester but in all authorities across the country.”

Testing carried out in NHS and Public Health England labs is known as pillar 1, and all community testing, drive-throughs and tests sent to people’s homes are pillar 2.

Leicestershire Police Federation federation chairman Dave Stokes said his colleagues are not sure how to implement the lockdown and are waiting for a change in the law, expected imminently.

When asked how police would enforce the local lockdown, he told Sky News: “We don’t know. And that’s simply because we are waiting for the government strategy and the legislation, which will obviously support us locally about how we are going to police it.

“It’s a moving picture and I’m sure the information will be fed down but at the moment that clarity isn’t there.”