With 43 Covid patients, Vissan proposes production halt

By Thi Ha July 27, 2021 | 11:17 pm PT

Vissan pork sold in a HCMC supermarket. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran.

Having detected 43 employees infected with the new coronavirus, leading food processor Vissan has proposed ceasing production for three to four weeks.

After implementing the stay-at-work mode from June 28 and frequently testing employees for the coronavirus, Vissan, by July 17, had discovered four Covid patients and sent them to concentrated isolation facilities. As of July 23, Vissan had reported a total 43 Covid cases.

On Wednesday, Vissan officially ceased delivering products to supermarkets and stores.

Vissan is currently awaiting guidance from relevant agencies, the firm’s management board told VnExpress Wednesday.

"We have found 43 F0 (Covid-19 patients), 357 F1 (close contacts of F0) and 351 F2 (close contacts of F1). In this situation, Vissan has been nearly paralyzed," said a senior company official.

Vissan has 600 points of sale in Ho Chi Minh City, and employs 1,500 staff, supplying products to many supermarkets and traditional markets.

Vissan plans to send all its Covid-19 patients to concentrated isolation facilities and test all others. If negative, the latter would be assigned work on separate production lines, and tested for the coronavirus every three days.

In the past, HCMC consumed some 10,000 pigs per day, including 1,000 slaughtered at Vissan plants. Since 2020, due to weaker sales caused by the pandemic, Vissan has slaughtered 600-700 pigs a day.

When the fourth wave of Covid-19 hit Vietnam starting April 27, Vissan increased its daily slaughtering capacity to 1,000-1,500, meeting 26.55-28.6 percent of the total demand for pork in HCMC.