Staff sent home from Hovis factory with Covid

A total of nine cases of Covid have been confirmed at the Hovis factory on Gain Lane, Bradford.

In addition, 12 staff have been told to self-isolate due to the possibility of prior close contact with the confirmed cases.

In a statement provided to the Yorkshire Evening Post, Hovis said the outbreak equalled 3.3% of the staff and five of the colleagues had gained symptoms while off site.

The last confirmed case was on October 6 and all but one employee have returned to the factory following self-isolation, Hovis said.

The whole statement read: “The health and wellbeing of our colleagues, customers and communities is our absolute priority, and we have done everything we can throughout the pandemic to protect them.

“We can confirm that a very small number of colleagues have been sent home from site and subsequently tested positive for Covid-19 at our Gain Lane bakery in September and early October.

"As a precaution we also sent home a small number of colleagues who they may have had close contact with.

"All have followed guidelines by self-isolating and seeking appropriate medical attention as necessary.

“PHE England was contacted immediately in line with Government requirements and the local EHO visited site. We already have stringent hygiene and safety procedures in place and feedback on controls was positive.

“We are confident that we have taken all the necessary steps to protect our colleagues, customers and community. We have had no further confirmed cases since early October.

“We are monitoring the situation closely and will continue to keep local authorities updated as needed.”