Germany’s coronavirus R rate skyrockets to 2.88 after abattoir outbreak

An animal rights protester outside an abattoir in Germany which has seen a major coronavirus outbreak
AFP via Getty Images

Germany's coronavirus infection rate has surged to its highest level in weeks – jumping from 1.79 to 2.88 in one day, official figures show.

The Covid-19 reproduction number – or R rate – needs to be below one in order to contain the outbreak, a landmark which most European countries have now achieved.

However, Germany’s R rate more than doubled in 48 hours over the weekend after it was recorded at 1.06 on Friday. It jumped from 1.79 on Saturday to 2.88 on Sunday. In England it currently sits between 0.7 and 0.9.

The worrying increase is largely attributed to a major outbreak of the virus at a slaughterhouse in the country’s North Rhine-Westphalia region, where more than 1,300 workers have tested positive for the disease.

The army has been deployed to the abattoir at Rheda-Wiedenbrück to help with testing, tracking and quarantining its 6,500 workers.

The Robert Koch Institute for public health (RKI), which has been publishing the country's virus statistics, said Germany’s R rate was particularly sensitive to local virus outbreaks because the overall level of new cases was so low.

“Further developments need to be monitored closely during the upcoming days, especially in regard to whether case numbers are increasing outside of outbreak contexts,” it said in a statement.

The RKI said additional outbreaks had been reported in a range of locations including hospitals, nursing homes and a refugee camp.

In total, 189,822 Covid-19 cases have now been confirmed in the country, along with 8,882 deaths.

A German soldier stands outside the headquarters of the Toennies abattoir in Rheda-Wiedenbrueck
AFP via Getty Images

The Rheda-Wiedenbrück abattoir which slaughters almost 50,000 pigs every day, is owned by Tönnies, Germany’s largest meat-processing group.

The firm is facing growing criticism over the poor working and living conditions of its staff, many of whom are from Romania and Bulgaria and work for an outside agency, according to the Financial Times (FT).

Clemens Tönnies, the billionaire co-owner of the company, said at a press conference on Saturday: “As an entrepreneur, who is primarily concerned with people, I can only apologise.

“We are the cause of this issue and are fully responsible.”

Serious outbreaks of the disease have forced the closure of a number of abattoirs around the world, including in the UK.

Some 158 cases of coronavirus have now been confirmed at a chicken processing plant in North Wales, with staff told to self-isolate for two weeks.

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