Pig processing at an Angus abattoir is due to resume next week following a two-week Covid-19 closedown.
The Quality Pork Processors’ plant in Brechin was shut by its operators on January 23 after a sharp rise in positive coronavirus cases at the Montrose Road facility.
A multi-agency Incident Management Team was put in place and earlier this week reported the number of coronavirus cases linked to the slaughterhouse had risen to 42.
Health chiefs said the rise of eight cases from the previous week had been among staff who were already self-isolating.
QPP has not commented on the restart of operations at what is Scotland’s only major pork slaughterhouse.
However, staff sources said workers had been requested to return to work on Monday and it is though processing will get underway early next week.
Workers were placed on furlough during the closure.
There have been concerns among Scots pig farmers over the impact of the closure on animal prices, with fears of a drop in value by as much as 40%.
Following the QPP closure, Scottish Conservatives rural economy spokesman Jamie Halcro Johnston lodged a Holyrood question pressing the Scottish Government to implement a scheme similar to a £2.2 million compensation fund set up in Northern Ireland to counter a Covid-19 closure which hit the industry there.
