AUTHORITIES have confirmed six new cases of COVID-19 linked to Hazeldene's Chicken Farm.
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It brings the total number of cases linked to the Bendigo-based business to nine, the Department of Health and Human Services believes.
An employee at a Lockwood premises was the first to test positive at the start of the week. The company shut down part of the processing plant in response and enacted its COVID-19 action plan.
It also asked 20 contractor team members and 14 Hazeldene's employees to go into isolation and await test results.
The company has been conducting on-site COVID-19 tests and encouraging other staff to get tested.
The Bendigo Advertiser is yet to confirm whether the new cases are linked to the first one reported at the facility, or to other potential sources of transmission. It is also yet to confirm how many are workers.
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Hazeldene's chief executive Mark Heintz said the company would keep working with government authorities to determine the best approach to the health and safety of its team, and the community.
"We have always valued Bendigo's community spirit and now is the time we stick together, by staying apart," he said.
Hazeldene's was already preparing to scale back its operations from Friday at the request of the Victorian government.
The change is part of strict new industry-wide conditions for abattoirs and meat works across the state.
The new Hazeldene's cases were confirmed on the same day Greater Bendigo officially recorded 10 new cases and the Mount Alexander Shire recorded one.
Bendigo's St Joseph's Primary School has also grown in the last 24 hours.
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