The sheepmeat giant made the call to send workers home to protect the local community from Covid-19 and slow its rampant spread through regional NSW. This comes as the state of NSW has been plunged into a statewide lockdown as the Covid-19 outbreak worsens. Roger Fletcher, Fletcher International Exports, told The Weekly Times this morning he had made the tough decision to close the livestock processing plant – for a week.Fletcher’s is often the biggest buyer of mutton sheep at the big prime sheep sales in Victoria and southern NSW each week, including Bendigo, Horsham and Griffith.“Dubbo is in a tough position,” Mr Fletcher said. “We have not got Covid at the plant and we do not want to get it, so we decided to close the plant before the horse has bolted.“It is a difficult time but this is best for the community and everyone involved and to protect our workers.”Fletcher’s employs around 800 people at the meat processing plant. Its other operations at Dubbo, including a rail terminal and farms, will continue to operate. The processing plant could have remained open as it is an essential service.“We could have kept it going but we thought it best for everyone to close for now, so we can get back up and going as soon as possible,” he said. Mr Fletcher confirmed his company would not be buying livestock this week. “We hope it will just be the week and we do the right thing to protect our people and markets,” he said. An outbreak among workers could lead to greater, longer term disruption, he said. MORE THE REASONS FOR THE LAMB PRICE PEAK HOW ROGER FLETCHER BUILT HIS EMPIRE
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