Read this in Pro-Med this morning: According to a CDC investigation, there are various factors at play that make meat-processing plants ideal breeding grounds for the virus. The report found that working practices make it difficult for employees to maintain physical distance, particularly if they work on production lines. And social distancing is also difficult to maintain in break rooms, so some factories have set up outside rest areas. The pace and physical demands of factory work also make it hard for workers to wear face coverings, with CDC observers noticing that workers tended to cover just their mouths, not their noses, and frequently readjusted their masks. Professor James Wood, researcher in infection dynamics and control of diseases at the University of Cambridge, said the speed of production lines made the spread of infection more likely. "If we do see outbreaks in slaughterhouses, one issue could be the challenges of avoiding close working between individuals on fast-moving slaughter lines and the substantial air movement that exists in and across many slaughterhouses and meat plants," he said. The LSHTM paper hypothesises that the noise in factories also means that workers have to either stand close to each other when talking or shout, which can increase the projection of viral particles. There are also socioeconomic factors. CDC noted that in one factory, 40 different languages were spoken, so communicating information about social distancing and safe working practices was difficult. Workers also travelled to work together, either on buses or in car shares, enabling the virus to spread even further. Employees were also more likely to live in crowded, multi-generational households, facilitating the spread of the disease to older, more at-risk individuals. The precarious working conditions of factory workers may also be a factor. If they are on zero-hours contracts or, in the US, do not have medical insurance, they may be unwilling to take sick leave. Prof Wood added, "If the outbreaks are large, that might suggest that there may be continued transmission in some plants, raising the question of whether people are coming to work when unwell." Calum Semple, professor of child health and outbreak medicine at the University of Liverpool, says that the biggest factor encouraging the spread of COVID-19 in such settings is likely to be the environment. Such facilities are cold and lack natural light. "If I wanted to preserve a virus, I would put it in a cold, dark environment or a cool environment that doesn't have any ultraviolet light, essentially a fridge or a meat-processing facility," he said. "If you have a cold nose, that will help the virus take hold. And when you shout, you produce more of the virus particle," he added. He said that factories for vegetables or other goods had not seen any outbreaks, so the temperature was likely to be the key factor. "The perfect place to keep a virus alive for a long time is a cold place without sunlight," he said.
------------- 'A man who does not think and plan long ahead will find trouble right at his door.' --Confucius
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