Three new Covid-19 clusters have emerged in Brooklyn, Tottenham and Colac in Victoria... As Victoria enters a “second wave” of Covid-19 infections, Australian meat processors have found themselves at the frontline of exposure and infection, with multiple outbreaks in abattoirs across the state....

[N]ow three new clusters have emerged, including 38 cases at the JBS meat processing plant in Brooklyn... The largest active meatworks cluster in the state is associated with Somerville Retail Services in Tottenham. ...the factory primarily processes meat products for Coles supermarkets. There are now 60 cases linked to the facility... An outbreak has also emerged at the Australia Lamb Company, a major employer in the regional Victorian town of Colac, with 13 cases currently linked to the plant...

All three factories associated with outbreaks have been temporarily closed and their entire workforces asked to quarantine....

Abattoirs operate along a production line, making social distancing impossible in many places as machines and platforms are permanently installed at set work stations... Shifts at meatworks are long, meaning in busy periods workers may be standing within a metre of each other for 10 to 12 hours a day. Cowie said this “unquestionably” increased the risk of infection... Language barriers may also contribute to the high prevalence of infection. Australia’s meat processing industry relies heavily on migrant workers, with a considerable portion of the workforce born in non-English speaking countries...