Staff at the Rowan Foods factory in Wrexham alleged that they were “afraid” to work with 283 cases of coronavirus.

However, some employees with COVID-19 symptoms said they chose not to work because they could not afford to live on legal sick pay.

A survey by BBC Radio 5 Live also found that personal protective equipment (PPE) is not always used.

It comes even though the company states that a visit by a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) did not cause serious problems.

Talking anonymously to the radio station, one worker said.

“It seems I’m resigning to the fact that I’m going to get it. That’s exactly the case.

“Staff were mostly worried that they couldn’t afford to miss work.

“When I was told to quarantine, I heard people say that they couldn’t live on the salary of a legal illness. So some continued to work.

“The unions have begun to get involved and have actually started talking to the company about paying orphaned staff…so they can actually survive the vacation.”

According to the latest figures released today by Public Health Wales, there were a total of 283 positive cases of the virus associated with Rowan Foods, accounting for about one-fifth of the workforce.

Unlike Anglesey’s 2 Sisters plant, which experienced a similar outbreak, the Wrexham plant continues to operate during the local storm.

The petition requesting the site be closed for 14 days to allow staff to quarantine itself has about 500 signatures.

However, the Welsh government has so far chosen not to enact the authority to force companies to close their doors.

Another worker told the BBC: “In the production line it is impossible to keep a social distance. Ten people stand side by side. It is impossible.

“We are sometimes 30-40 cm apart and you have nothing between you.

“Too many people don’t speak English, so I don’t know if anyone complained. I think they won’t say anything.”

The factory produces about 2 million cooked foods each week, many of which are sold in supermarket chains nationwide.

Prime Minister Mark Drakeford urged the British government to intervene to pay the orphaned staff in full.

Rowan Foods said a two-day visit by HSE staff last week scrutinized the site’s COVID-19 practices.

Representatives said many measures had been taken previously to protect employees with non-enforcement actions from government agencies.

The spokesman said: “The inspections ensured that the substantial workforce protection measures we implemented in early March 2020 were successful, protecting our colleagues from COVID-19.

In addition, Public Health Wales repeatedly confirmed that there is no evidence that Rowan foods are the source.

“Furthermore, the Welsh government has the power to close the site, but Health Minister Welsh Vaughan Gessing confirmed that he chose not to do this.

“Thus, and with this support from the UK’s recognized health and safety agencies, our site remains open.”

At the daily press conference today, the Welsh Minister for International Affairs said new guidelines were introduced following outbreaks in Rowan and other food processing plants in Wales.

Eluned Morgan MS said it will continue to encourage workers to receive more than their legal sickness allowance.

She said: “I’m very worried to hear that people don’t feel safe at their workplace, which is what we are very interested in.

“We are pressured by the UK government not only to rely on statutory salaries but to rethink in terms of how we can support those who should probably stop working. , Which is much less often than they normally pay.”

Meanwhile, public health Welsh officials have moved to reassure the community that the recent surge in Wrexham cases was expected while test results from factory staff continued to emerge.

Dr. Christopher Johnson said: “We report a total of 46 more cases recorded since Monday, but we haven’t seen a spike in infection levels in the last 48 hours.

“Most of the increase was the result of on-site sampling of results collected through community, home and drive-through test centers, not new outbreaks.

“We want to reassure the workforce and the broader community that the results we have identified are exactly what we would expect when a focused and powerful testing regime was introduced. ”

The petition to close the site can be found here: www.change.org/p/welsh-government-close-down-rowan-foods