At least two slaughterhouses are among the 25 outbreaks identified since the start of the deconfinement, May 11, 2020. 69 cases were detected in Côtes-d’Armor, 54 in Loiret. The Vendée, too, was affected. Screenings continue. Similar situations are worrying abroad. More than 5,000 workers in a hundred abattoirs are contaminated in the United States, where closures are increasing. In Germany, Spain, Ireland, Brazil, Australia… hundreds of cases have also been reported.
Why slaughterhouses?
These similarities question. The factors that may favor the spread of the virus in these buildings are being studied. “The high humidity rate could explain a reduction in the effectiveness of the masks or a longer lifespan of the virus in the environment, underlines Pascal Crépey, epidemiologist and teacher-researcher at the School of Advanced Studies in Public Health (EHESP) in Rennes. This poses many questions. Observations should be made under real conditions. “
During this phase of deconfinement and in the months to come, “We will have to learn to live with the virus and find lasting solutions. Other industries may be at risk in the coming weeks. “
Working conditions are also targeted, especially in Germany where the sector employs many poor immigrants living in precarious health environments.
The promiscuity in question in France?
“Our companies have taken all the necessary measures”, ensures Matthieu Pecqueur, managing director of Culture Viande (45,000 employees, 70% of the slaughter of cattle, pigs and sheep in France).
In government job descriptions to stem the coronavirus, slaughterhouses are asked to replace speech with coded gestures or a slate, to occupy one out of every two positions with cut-outs, to take meals on shift, etc. However, working conditions are also singled out in France. “It is not the slaughter of meat per se that is at issue, but the high human concentration in this sector”, said Jean-Marc Jolly, food manager at CGT Brittany. For him, “Social distancing is not respected, in favor of productivity”. Greenpeace and antispecies associations also point out work in slaughterhouses.
Can we continue to eat meat?
Epidemiologists want to be reassuring. Covid-19 is transmitted through the respiratory system. “No scientific data suggests that the virus can contaminate us through the digestive tract”, reminds the Health Security Agency (ANSES), even if the possibility of infecting the respiratory tract during the chewing of a contaminated food cannot be excluded.
“The virus cannot be found in meat but only on its surface, as with any food”, underlines Pascal Crépey, who advises to pass the meat under water or to cook it.
– .
