Some 27 employees at an ice cream factory in central Romania have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, authorities said Sunday.
Tests have been conducted on 64 employees so far and a further 200 will be tested, the Public Health Department said.
Authorities said the outbreak occurred as workers didn’t wear protective equipment despite having received masks and gloves.
The case came after Romania reported 213 cases of coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours to bring the total to 18,070. It’s the first time the daily count has exceeded 200 in the past week.
Online site ziarulunirea.ro reported that the outbreak occurred at the Alpin 57 Lux plant, a market leader in Romania in the city of Sebes.
Health authorities said they were conducting an epidemiological inquiry into the case and said that the workers came from different parts of the county.
Employees who tested positive for COVID-19 were transported to hospital and the factory has been closed for disinfection/
The factory was fined 10,000 lei for not respecting health regulations.
„All the epidemiological specialists said the main cause of infection was wearing protective clothing although the employer provided it.”
Alpin 57 Lux was founded twenty years ago and sold to a Latvian company Food Union for 15 million euros in 2016. The original owner retains a 30% share.
Food Union is the biggest dairy producer in Latvia.
