Vegetable pickers ‘on run’ after farm hit by Covid-19

THREE vegetable pickers who caught coronavirus during an outbreak at a Herefordshire farm have gone on the run, it is claimed.

Some 73 workers at vegetable producer AS Green and Co have tested positive for the potentially deadly virus and about 200 have been quarantined in mobile homes.

It is said four workers – including three who contracted Covid-19 during the local outbreak – have gone missing from Rook Row Farm in the village of Mathon, near Worcester.

There is a police presence at the site, where workers – many from Eastern Europe – have been told to isolate in mobile homes, and officials from Public Health England (PHE) are monitoring the outbreak.

AS Green and Co declined to comment on claims workers had gone on the run.

A joint statement issued previously by PHE Midlands and Herefordshire Council said employees were being asked to remain on the farm during the period of isolation.

Two employees fled on Saturday – one of whom had tested positive – and two more who were infected with the virus left on Monday, a source claimed to the Sun.

The source also claimed the authorities are offering the workers “beer and cigarettes” as part of efforts to keep them at the site.

Workers’ passports are kept “secure” at the farm, the source also claimed.

Earlier yesterday, Karen Wright, the county’s director of public health, said the 200 quarantined workers were being given the “best support”.

She also told BBC Breakfast there “isn’t any risk around the food” coming from the farm.

Ms Wright said: “The situation on site is that we are supporting the farm owners, who are doing their very best in this difficult situation.

“We’re helping by providing food and other provisions to all of the people on site.

“We’ve had translators on site over the weekend and that will be the same for the coming days, to look after the welfare of individuals and also to keep reinforcing those messages around reducing the spread of the infection.”

She added: “Our main priority is obviously to make sure people are well and that people are looked after and that’s the main thing we need to be doing and that’s our focus, to look after people really well.”

During the harvesting season, the workforce resides in mobile homes based on the farm, so as a precaution the whole group are being treated as “one extended bubble”, according to officials.

Katie Spence, PHE Midlands health protection director, said that to support the workforce of around 200 key workers, the company had put a range of infection control measures in place.

She added: “We are still awaiting a few final results, but currently we have 73 positive cases of Covid-19 among the workforce.”

A spokesman for AS Green and Co, which specialises in growing beans, said its “hard-working” staff were the firm’s “priority” as it was supported by PHE and Herefordshire Council.

“We contacted PHE and we are working closely with them and Public Health at Herefordshire Council to prevent the spread of Covid-19,” the spokesman added.

A statement on the farm’s website said the site has been closed to all visitors, while no workers are permitted to leave.

“Our workforce and local community are our priority at this difficult time and we continue to follow the guidance of the relevant bodies to ensure that the spread of the virus is controlled and our workforce is supported,” it said.

“Public Health England advises that it is very unlikely Covid-19 can be transmitted through food or food packaging so shoppers can remain confident buying British fruit and veg.”

Following the Pick for Britain campaign - an initiative to bring together UK workers and farmers together to prevent crops rotting in the ground during the pandemic - the farm said it had received more than 300 applications.