AN Aunt Bessie’s factory worker has died just a fortnight after a coronavirus outbreak was confirmed among staff.
It is feared the woman, who worked at the factory in Hull for 21 years, died from the bug which left one of her colleagues seriously ill in hospital.
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The woman who died is understood to have worked at the firm’s Freightliner Road factory, which employs around 400 people.
The cause of her death has not yet been confirmed, but it came two weeks after other workers tested positive for Covid-19.
Confirming the news in a statement, a spokesman for Aunt Bessie’s said: “We are all saddened about the death of our colleague, and our thoughts and condolences are with her family and friends at this time.
“She was an important member of our team for 21 years and we will do everything we can to support her family.
“As a mark of respect, today we won’t be running the shift our colleague worked on, so that friends and colleagues have time to mourn and remember her.”
It is understood another employee told bosses they were feeling unwell on Thursday, September 3.
The day before that, a second staff member also reported being ill.
Aunt Bessie’s described how they had a “small number of coronavirus cases” and that they were following national health guidance “very strictly”.
“We continue to follow the guidance of national health authorities very strictly,” a company spokesman had said.
“Currently, our Aunt Bessie’s factory has a small number of coronavirus cases, but PHE has repeatedly complimented us on our social distancing measures and our proactive approach to ensuring that our colleagues are safe and well.
“The health and welfare of our employees is our number one priority.
“We acted early and decisively in March to implement new procedures and have strict protocols at all of our sites, including our Hull Aunt Bessie’s factory, to reduce the risk of coronavirus spreading amongst our employees.”
