Slaughterhouse launches pandemic prevention plan to increase supply of fresh meat
In response to the development of the pandemic and to stabilise the supply and price of fresh meat, the Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) and the Macau Slaughter House Ltd. launched the pandemic prevention plan today (20 June). The slaughterhouse staff work in two groups on alternate shifts to avoid the quarantine isolation of all staff owing to confirmed cases of certain staff and halting the operations of the slaughterhouse.
The slaughterhouse started its operations earlier than usual at 1:00 a.m. this morning, and the overall operation process was smooth. A total of 387 live pigs and 6 live cows were slaughtered, increasing the supply amount to 50% more than the usual amount. Fresh beef was also supplied to the market earlier than usual, and fresh pork was successively transported to the different municipal markets and supermarkets before 6:00 a.m. for supply to the market.
Recently, IAM has adopted a series of pandemic prevention measures jointly with the Macau Slaughter House Ltd. These measures include requiring the slaughterhouse staff to get vaccinated against novel coronavirus, undergo nucleic acid tests every 48 hours in compliance with the Macao Special Administrative Region Government’s requirement for nucleic acid testing for staff of the cold chain food industry, obtain green health code and measure their body temperature before work and continuously strengthen the cleaning and disinfection of the slaughterhouse. A pandemic prevention contingency plan has also been formulated. Previously, pressure tests on the different slaughtering processes were run.
After the pandemic prevention plan is launched, the slaughterhouse manpower is reduced by half. To prioritise the stable supply of fresh pork, the supply of other by-products such as pig’s blood is suspended, and the slaughtering of live cows may also be affected to a certain extent.
Currently, the majority of meat supply in the local pork consumer market is frozen meat, with fresh pork only accounting for 20%. The supply of chilled and frozen pork in Macao is abundant. IAM will continue to maintain close contact with the relevant departments in Mainland China, Nam Yue (Group) Co. Ltd. and Nam Kwong (Group) Company Limited, which are the suppliers of live pigs in Macao, and the Macau Slaughter House Ltd. to timely adjust the measures according to the changes of the pandemic.
