Operations at Radford’s abattoir in Warragul have been shut down with the potential of 100 staff affected by a COVID outbreak.

Two production floor staff tested positive to COVID over the weekend, immediately shutting down the meat works operation.

Fifty staff have been identified as tier one contacts, while a further 50 staff are considered tier two contacts.

R. Radford and Son chief executive officer Paul Scanlon said all staff were being tested after a staff member who attended the Robin Hood Hotel tested positive.

If the abattoir is shut down for 14 days, Mr Scanlon said it could reasonably amount to a $250,000 loss in production.

However, he is hopeful, with assistance from the Health Department, that double vaccinated, negative staff may be able to return onsite later this week.

“We are obviously keen to get back to production but we will follow their (the department’s) guidelines and we won’t go back until it is safe to do so,” he said.

Mr Scanlon said the first staff member had not been onsite since Wednesday and was tested on Thursday when he became aware of Robin Hood being listed as an exposure site.  He received a positive result on Saturday.

He said a second staff member, whose locker was located next to the first positive case, had also tested positive.

“Anyone that worked on the production floor last week has been identified as a primary contact,” he said.

Mr Scanlon said other staff, including administration and truck drivers had been identified as tier two contacts.

But, he said, without the production floor staff, the abattoir could not continue operating.

“We are just working through it all with the department.

“We have had transmission onsite and we did a deep clean on Sunday,” he said.

Mr Scanlon said it was a “wait and see” situation over the next 24 hours which would largely depend on whether other staff test positive and the numbers escalating.

The abattoir received permission to yesterday move already processed meat off the site.

He said they also had permission for a drover to feed stock on the Skinners Rd property to ensure animal welfare guidelines were met.

Mr Scanlon said they were able to process some stock off site to meet customer orders.

He said there had been no loss in meat or stock.

“This is the first time we have had a positive case.  We’ve had COVID safety in place for 18 months as abattoirs are an at-risk industry,” he said.