7 INFECTED AND OTHER WORKERS REPORTEDLY SENT HOME FROM EURO CAR PARTS COMPLEX FOLLOWING A CAR JOURNEY FROM LEICESTER TO NORTH WARWICKSHIRE

INTERNATIONAL car parts giant Euro Car Parts is at the centre of a secret outbreak of Covid-19 – raising fears that thousands of lives across Atherstone and North Warwickshire could have been put at risk.

At least seven people are thought to have contracted the potentially deadly virus this week after five workers at the Birch Coppice car parts complex shared a car journey from Leicester to Dordon.

The virus is thought to have been passed on from the wife of one of the car occupants – subsequently infecting all five workers. In all, seven people – including another wife - have been struck down with the virus and are now self-isolating at home in the Leicester area.

It is understood that Public Health England has notified Atherstone-based North Warwickshire Borough Council of the outbreak while Euro Car Parts has ordered a new car-sharing policy of just two workers per vehicle in the aftermath of the emergency.

But sources aware of the secret measures underway say Public Health England should have instituted immediate urgent mobile testing at the huge car parts complex and elsewhere at the Birch Coppice industrial complex, where 6,500 are employed, some around the clock, across a range of industries with household names such as Ocado and UPS.

Some 38 per cent of workers at the business park – a hugely successful enterprise on the old North Warwickshire pit site – are said to live within five miles of the industrial centre.

An unspecified number of workers at Euro Car Parts have already been sent home as national statistics reveal workplaces are the only locations where the virus is on the increase.

The secret Birch Coppice outbreak comes days before this weekend's long-awaited re-opening of pubs in nearby Atherstone and many villages across North Warwickshire.

A source close to the outbreak said: "Why has there been no mobile testing?

"If Public Health England want to get on top of this outbreak, why are they not jumping on cases like this and instituting much more stringent measures?

"You would have expected Public Health England to say let's bring in mobile testing and to tell Euro Car Parts to stop car-sharing.

"They have sent some staff home but in that situation, they should never have been in the building in the first place.

"Euro Car Parts is an international distributor of car parts and they distribute to hundreds of garages across the country. It seems that car-sharing was going on against Government guidelines.

"There has been no publicity from Public Health England or Euro Car Parts about the fact that there has been this outbreak. There is surely a balance to be struck between over-reacting and notifying the public that there has been an outbreak.

"At this point in time, we only know of these seven people affected.

"But it is not clear whether there is going to be testing in North Warwickshire following this. Many, many people live in the community around the Birch Coppice site

"You would have expected Public Health England to carry out mobile testing at this stage.

"It's a small outbreak but the pubs are open this weekend, you have to be very careful. The fact that they are still allowing car-sharing beggars belief."

The source said it is understood that Euro Car Parts has now tightened up procedures – including sending some staff home and ordering a new two people per vehicle policy – following a confidential meeting between the car parts giant, Public Health England and North Warwickshire Borough Council in the wake of the emergency scare.

But the source added: "Tens of thousands of people come into contact with Euro Car Parts."

The North Warwickshire scare comes amid revelations that suspected outbreaks of Covid-19 in workplaces in England have almost doubled in the past week, as more and more people return to their jobs.

Public Health England said 43 acute respiratory outbreaks were reported in workplaces in the week ending June 28, up from 22 in the previous week. The data shows the spread of the virus in workplaces is increasing while transmissions in most other locations is in decline.

Workplaces are now the sole areas where the spread of the virus is rising. An analysis of Covid-19 fatalities from the Office for National Statistics shows that manual workers, including plant operatives, are at a greater risk of dying.

Meanwhile, outbreaks of the virus in England have slowed in almost every other setting and are down by almost a quarter overall, to 171 from 223 in the previous week.

Both PHE and Euro Car Parts were contacted by Nub News for a comment.