The Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) announced in a statement yesterday that in conjunction with Macau Slaughter House Ltd., a variety of pandemic prevention measures at the slaughterhouse to stabilise Macau’s supplies and prices of fresh pork have been adopted.
According to the statement, slaughterhouse staff must be vaccinated against the COVID-19 pandemic, undergo nucleic tests (NATs) every 48 hours, present a valid green Macau Health Code and undergo a temperature check before work and strengthen the cleaning and disinfection of the abattoir.
Moreover, the COVID-19 prevention contingency plan has also been devised, which will be launched immediately upon the discovery of a local confirmed case, the statement pointed out. The staff are required to work in two groups on alternate shifts to avoid quarantining all staff due to a confirmed case and to ensure the slaughterhouse’s normal operation.
The statement underlined that upon the plan’s launch, the bureau’s inspection staff will also be divided into two groups to strictly carry out on-site inspections considering the importance of testing and inspection in ensuring fresh meat’s food safety.
The slaughter time of live pigs will be extended if the plan needs to be launched, owing to the staff being divided into two groups working alternately, along with the manpower being reduced by half, the statement added. The supply of other “by-products such as pig’s blood” will be suspended, the slaughter of cows will also be affected “to a certain extent” to prioritise stable swine supply.
Moreover, once a staff member is confirmed to be infected or listed as a close contact of someone infected, the statement underlined that the slaughterhouse’s operation must be suspended and can only be reopened after cleaning and disinfecting the environment and if “sample tests show no abnormalities”. The statement said that the slaughter of pigs and cows will be affected in this case and the bureau will strive to reopen the slaughterhouse as soon as possible.
Pressure tests on the different slaughtering processes with half the number of staff were conducted on Tuesday to test the plan’s effectiveness, with the slaughtering process having shown to be “smooth”, the statement noted.
Meanwhile, the statement pointed out that the supply of chilled and frozen pork in the city “is abundant”, with fresh pork only accounting for 20 percent of the total, as most meat supplies in the local pork consumer market are frozen.
The bureau said that it will continue to maintain close contact with the relevant departments in the mainland, Nam Yue (Group) Co. Ltd. and Nam Kwong (Group) Company Limited, which are Macau’s live pig suppliers, and Macau Slaughter House Ltd. in line with the COVID pandemic’s development.
This undated handout photo provided by the Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) yesterday shows workers loading slaughtered meat onto a lorry.
