Durban - Sasko Bakery in Shakaskraal has been forced to close again after more employees tested positive for Covid-19.
Pioneer Foods confirmed 11 of their employees at the bakery tested positive for Covid-19 last week and have conducted an extensive tracing exercise of the employees who were in close contact with their infected colleague. They were in self-isolation and were being closely monitored.
This bakery supplies Durban, Richards Bay and Pietermaritzburg, as far down as Kokstad, while a smaller bakery in Ladysmith supplies inland areas.
Cornel Vermeulen, bakeries executive at Pioneer Foods, said they also launched a mass screening of their employees.
“Following the initial identification of positive cases, on April 26 and 27, the respective affected areas on site were shut down for deep cleaning and sanitisation. The site was then reopened under guidance from the Department of Health. Upon the identification of additional positive cases on April 28, the site was then shut down, and currently remains closed,” said Vermeulen.
“We have been working closely with the departments of Health and Labour to ensure that we have a safe working environment before we start producing bread again.”
However, an employee said the company only closed the site on Sunday.
He claimed he was one of the few people who were asked to go to work on Sunday, and that was when the company actually decided to close the site.
“Last week, people were called in to work short hours, about two or three hours. The company had not been closed. Instead they got casuals last week because they don’t know their rights since a lot of the permanent staff have refused to work,” he said.
Vermeulen said they understood there was concern and anxiety about the positive cases identified at their site, and the possibility of others contracting it.
He said they used temporary labour in instances where employees were in isolation, from a precautionary perspective, as expected, once operations were cleared to continue.
“As a provider of essential services, we are anxious to resume production at the bakery in order to provide the highest level of service to our customers, while at the same time ensuring the health and safety of our employees,” Vermeulen said.