North Wales MS writes to First Minister questioning test result delays for Rowan Foods staff

Plaid Cymru’s North Wales regional MS Llyr Gruffydd has written to the First Minister asking for clarification on delays in test results for workers at Rowan Foods on Wrexham Industrial Estate.

Mr Gruffydd said the Covid-19 outbreak among Rowan Foods workers was among the biggest challenges faced by public protection in Wales to date and believes lessons need to be learned from the episode.

In a letter to First Minister Mark Drakeford, he questioned why the focus has been on failures of transcription and labelling, both of which Mr Drakeford admitted had been problems and referred to the number of people who’s first language was not Welsh or English. Mr Gruffydd said he had been told that workers with relatively common surnames such as Davies and Jones were still waiting for test results.

Mr Gruffydd said: “As this is one of the largest concentrated Covid-19 outbreaks to have happened in Wales, I’m sure we’d all want to learn lessons and improve as we move forward in tackling the virus. Rowan Foods provided a comprehensive database of workers and their contact details, so why did Public Health Wales refuse to allow the in-house team to help with names and contact numbers of workers being tested? Why was the data base not referred to?

“We know that more than 300 of the 1100 tested have now come back as positive but I’m also aware of a large number of workers who, weeks later, are still waiting for test results. By now, of course, the results are largely immaterial but it does point to a problem in the testing regime that has been raised with me by those affected and also the track and protect team.

“Huge amounts of work was put into dealing with this outbreak and I’m grateful to all who helped limit the problem, but it would be foolish and misleading to deny that mistakes were made. The key in moving forward is to openly acknowledge where things went wrong and ensuring it’s put right next time.”

In the latest update, Public Health Wales said of the local outbreak, “The multi-agency team managing the outbreak of Coronavirus associated with Rowan Foods Ltd in Wrexham has recorded 309 cases. There continues to be no evidence that this outbreak is factory-based, and the results we have identified are what we would expect to see when a focused testing takes place. “