SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Meatpacker Marfrig Global Foods (SA:MRFG3) has signed a settlement with labor prosecutors in Brazil to improve protections for workers amid outbreaks of COVID-19 cases in food plants, labor prosecutors said in a statement on Monday.
Marfrig's settlement, the prosecutors said, includes routine testing of workers for the novel coronavirus, which causes the COVID-19 respiratory illness, and it imposes a mandatory 1.5 meters (5 feet) in physical distancing between workers at the company's 12 plants in Brazil.
In a separate statement on Monday, Marfrig, which is majority owner of National Beef Co. LLC in the United States, said it would test all 18,000 workers starting on June 2 as part of its prevention efforts.
The testing routine Marfrig has agreed to may involve so-called rapid serological testing of workers and tests that use the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction molecular method, known as RT-PCR, for employees working "in shared environments," the prosecutors said.
Marfrig must also immediately remove "symptomatic workers" from the plants until testing is conducted, for a minimum period of 14 days, in accordance with official health protocols.
(Reporting and Writing by Ana Mano; Additional writing by Gram Slattery; Editing by Aurora Ellis) OLUSECON Reuters US Online Report Economy 20200601T182629+0000