The premier of the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia said on Tuesday he was putting the Guetersloh area back into lockdown until June 30 after a coronavirus outbreak at a meatpacking plant there.
“EMPLOYEES ARE BEING QUARANTINED”
More than 1,500 workers at a meat processing plant in Guetersloh had tested positive for the coronavirus, plus some of their family members and 24 people with no connection to the plant, State Premier Armin Laschet said.
“The affected plant was temporarily closed at short notice and all employees are being quarantined as well as their household members,” he added.
State premiers had agreed to act locally where possible to suppress the virus and there was no justification now for broader action, Laschet said.
Earlier on Tuesday, the head of the Robert Koch Institute for public health, Lothar Wieler, said local outbreaks had been a major factor behind a spike in the last few days in the coronavirus reproduction rate, currently estimated at 2.76.