Reuters reports that Westvlees tested and quarantined 197 workers from the meat cutting department of its plant in Westrozebeke, West Flanders, on Wednesday after some employees reported infections.

The company will test all 850 workers at the plant this week, as a precaution, product manager Manuel Goderis said on Friday 7 August.

The meat cutting department is closed and will reopen on 17 August at the earliest.

"For now, there is no reason to believe that there will be other cases," Goderis said.

Meat processing plants in Ireland and Greece have also reported clusters of new infections this month, while countries including Germany, the United States and Australia have seen major outbreaks in the industry.

A German abattoir was shuttered in June after 1,500 workers tested positive.

More than 16,000 US meatpacking workers had been infected by the end of May, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

A CDC report in April said conditions in meat processing facilities could help spread the virus, including work on fast-moving production lines that hinder social distancing, and the physical demands of the work which can make wearing face coverings difficult.

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