PUBLIC health experts in Herefordshire have been quizzed on what is being done to prevent another coronavirus outbreak amongst seasonal workers at farms in Herefordshire.

In July 2020, more than 130 workers at a vegetable farm near Ledbury tested positive for coronavirus. Public Health England said the outbreak at AS Green and Co in Mathon was the first outbreak of its kind in the UK.

The outbreak was successfully contained, health officials said in August, and work has been ongoing to prevent a similar incident at any of the other farms in the county which use seasonal workers.

Herefordshire's public health chief Rebecca Howell-Jones was asked during a Herefordshire Healthwatch Q&A what was being done to prevent a repeat of July's event, which attracted widespread national media coverage.

She said people coming into England are currently required quarantine for 10 days after arriving. Depending on where the person is travelling from, that could be at their destination or in a managed quarantine hotel.

On top of that, the county's public health team has been doing "engagement work" with agricultural businesses, and more work will be done.

"That quarantine and that isolation will prevent any onward spread and enable us to contain it," Dr Howell-Jones said.

The response of the Green family, which owns the farm, was brilliant, according to Dr Simon Lennane from Ross-on-Wye's Alton Street surgery.

He said as there was very little mixing between seasonal workers and the wider community, so represented "very little risk".

"We had an unfortunate example last year, but it was handled incredibly well, with an outbreak on a farm," he said.

"The public health response was exemplary to this. It was a really rounded, measured response to a significant outbreak which managed to contain it.

"It was really well done, it was inspiring to see how these things are done."

Herefordshire Council's director of adults and communities, who was also taking part in the Herefordshire Healthwatch Q&A, said the farm businesses themselves had been working hard.

He said the Greens had "made a great effort" and worked really hard with the public health team, and that was also true with other businesses working with the council to prevent outbreaks.