Over 1,500 cases relating to meat or poultry plants

Some 84% of all outbreaks of COVID-19 in the first week of September were in private houses, new figures reveal.

Data from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre shows that there were 145 outbreaks (two or more linked cases) in the week up to midnight, Saturday, September 5.

Of that number, 122 were in private homes.

To date, since the pandemic began there have been 2,018 outbreaks in private houses.

The data also shows that there were six workplace outbreaks notified during the first week of September. These occurred in a document processing company, a specialist data analysis company, a pharmaceutical plant, a retail pharmacy store, a windows installation/home improvement company and an energy production plant.

In total, the HPSC says there has been 85 outbreaks in workplaces since the pandemic began. These involve a variety of workplace and facilities including “food wholesalers/distribution centres, pizza delivery premises, factories, primary care centres and garda stations”.

44 of the 85 were in various food and beverage related industries (of which 31 were in meat/poultry processing plants) and five were in mushroom farms/facilities.

There were 1,543 cases associated with the 31 outbreaks in meat/poultry processing plants. 34 people were hospitalised and eleven were in intensive care.

Separately, the HPSC says there was one outbreak in the week ending on Saturday, September 5, in a homeless facility and one extended family outbreak in the Traveller community.

Since the pandemic began, there have been 26 outbreaks involving 292 people in direct provision centres.

There have been twelve outbreaks in the Traveller community involving 101 cases and 69 people in the Roma community have contracted the virus from five outbreaks.

In prisons, there have been 24 cases from six outbreaks. The HPSC says all the prison cases involve staff.