2 test positive for COVID-19 in connection with Okanagan fruit farm

Interior Health has confirmed that a migrant farm worker and another person connected to Oliver's Krazy Cherry Fruit Company have tested positive for COVID-19.

The temporary foreign worker is currently isolating at a location away from the farm, while the second patient is in isolation at home, and the B.C. health authority says the risk to the general public is low. 

An isolation order has been issued for 36 migrant workers and nine other people associated with the farm. All of those affected are prevented from leaving the farm while an investigation is underway. The only access to the farm is for deliveries of essential items.

Susan Brown, President and CEO of Interior Health, says the health authority was on site to "ensure people get the care they require."

The source of the infections has not been determined, but both patients are believed to have contracted the disease in B.C. The temporary foreign worker went through the mandatory 14-day isolation period and then tested negative before beginning work on the farm, according to Interior Health.

Raul Gatica, assistant to the director of Dignidad Migrante Society, which advocates for migrant farm workers, has raised concerns about how the positive case was handled and whether other workers have been exposed.

He says dozens of workers at Krazy Cherry Fruit Company may have been at risk of transmission because of close living and working conditions.

The company operates a packing plant in Oliver and fields in Oliver, Kelowna and Vernon. CBC has reached out for comment. 

Gatica says a COVID-19 test was taken by the worker on July 9 and that he was put into isolation the night of July 11.

He says the man works in the company's Kelowna field and Oliver packing plant and is currently isolating at an area motel.