More testing, living inspections needed for farm workers, says Kingsville mayor

Another farm worker in Essex County has tested positive for COVID-19, representing one of seven new cases in the region Tuesday.

Farm workers now make up 18 per cent of all cases in Windsor-Essex, including a 31-year-old man with no underlying health conditions who died of the novel coronavirus over the weekend.

The numbers are concerning for Kingsville Mayor Nelson Santos who said farm workers are a critical part of the food supply chain and is calling for more testing.

"That's been a critical part from day one. How much testing can we do? How much more access to testing can we make and afford to get to the public?" said Santos, adding the health unit's pop-up testing sites may subside people's fears about getting tested.

"Some people are isolating because they're fearful and they don't know. But if they have access to a test, maybe that'll help them relieve some of their anxiety and stress as well."

Santos is also calling for better access to care and more frequent checks of farm workers' living conditions.

"Let's do another investigation to ensure the spacing is available ... Let's all do one more round and let's make sure everything's tightened up and everything is covered in terms of the social distancing requirements and the safety and the environment that the workers are living in."

Santos said it is imperative that the same care given to putting food products on grocery store shelves is also given to ensuring that migrant workers have a safe place to live.

"Everyone needs to be on the same page for safety because it's not just those workers. It's the locals. It's the managers It's the salespeople. It can affect everyone — and we're aware of that."

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Monday he would begin discussions with public health officials about testing all migrant workers. In Windsor-Essex, there are more 170 agricultural operations and more than 8,000 workers in the sector.

The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit, however, said testing all of them without a concrete strategy doesn't seem possible.

"There's a strategy that's being unfolded by the ministry to expand testing — and include this group for testing as well. So I'm looking forward to getting more information to see how this would unfold," said Dr. Wajid Ahmed, medical officer of health.

"Our focus right now is case and contact management and we'll continue to do that and expand the testing as needed based on the case and contact management piece."

But for the NDP locally, future strategies don't go far enough — saying the conditions in crowded bunkhouses should have been addressed by the province earlier to stop the spread.

"Hard-hit agribusinesses need support to stop these hot spots from spreading like wildfire through our farms and communities," said Essex MPP Taras Natyshak. "These are essential front-line workers playing a role in critical food supply chain businesses.

"They need personal protective equipment, sanitizing stations, and the ability to self-isolate to stop the spread of COVID-19. This kind of help is long, long overdue, but it's not too late to protect the workers who are still healthy, and protect an important part of our regional economy and provincial food supply."