SACADA - Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in Food Preparation Workshops - Focus on meat processing workshops

In France and around the world, during the COVID-19 pandemic, agri-food workers are considered part of the essential workforce of critical infrastructure, from farmers to processing plant employees, truck drivers, and supermarket cashiers. In addition, in some countries such as the United States, by presidential decree, meat and poultry processing plants must continue to operate to avoid disrupting the food supply chain. Workers in these industries may be more exposed to coronaviruses because telework is not possible, and many face increased risks due to the proximity of their work environment. The issue of virus circulation in meat processing plants in France needs to be carefully addressed from three perspectives: (i) protecting workers and preventing these premises from becoming hotspots for virus circulation in communities; (ii) preventing the closure of these processing plants and ensuring supplies; and (iii) prevention of food contamination to avoid the exportation of this virus to other places. The objective of this project is to understand the circulation of SARS-CoV-2 in meat processing plants in order to provide prevention or risk reduction measures for workers and consumers. We plan to gather/collect the data needed to understand the circulation of the virus in this type of workplace and use them to build a simulation model of the spread of SARS-CoV-2. The project is organized into four tasks. The transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and persistence factors in meat processing plants will be studied (WP1). The objectives will be to conduct an in-depth literature review on SARS-CoV-2 transmission parameters in order to extract relevant data to study its circulation, and to define laboratory protocols to fill the data gaps or uncertainties on certain parameters. Then, a description of the working conditions and environmental factors in these factories will be carried out, through questionnaires and interviews as well as observations to be carried out within the factories (WP2). The data collected will be used to define the parameters of the laboratory experiments. These data will also be used to feed the mathematical model that will be developed to simulate the spread of the virus in a meat processing factory (WP3). It will be used to evaluate the impact of certain management measures or reduction of the probability of transmission of the virus to employees, and the contamination of products and the environment. This model will also allow us to explore the transmission of the virus outside the factories. Finally, different communication tools will be proposed (WP4), essential to engage employees in an effective safety management policy, obtain their cooperation and support, and maintain a positive safety culture. The impacts of this project will be 1) to increase knowledge on the transmission of the virus in a professional setting; 2) to provide solutions to companies to better calibrate their preventive measures and mitigate risks in the event of the introduction of the virus into their premises; 3) to provide data on the transmission modalities and simulate the circulation of the virus under different scenarios; and 4) to provide decision support for companies and governments based on available science and data. The approach is extensible to other situations: processing plants, offices, universities, public places, etc. Our team will participate in the collection and generation of data on the persistence of SARS-CoV-2 on the different surfaces that can be found in meat cutting workshops, in order to feed the model.