Flower farm shuts down due to COVID
At least 50 infected at One Floral Group in largest local outbreak
A Lincoln flower farm hammered by a COVID-19 outbreak has had to halt operations because so many of its staff are either infected by the novel coronavirus or have been in close contact to a co-worker who tested positive.
Jim Olsthoorn, operator of One Floral Group on Fourth Avenue, said the temporary shutdown is the inevitable consequence of the outbreak that has sickened at least 50 people and comes at an inopportune time for the business.
“There is some sophistication to the greenhouses, and we can do some irrigation through the computers, but Christmas is coming up and that is really the next big season for us,” Olsthoorn said Wednesday. “We have had to put our orders on hold and that will start up again once we can bring people back to work.”
The outbreak was declared on Nov. 6. Initial tests identified five workers with COVID-19.
“There were so many people with symptoms that we tested everyone,” said Dr. Mustafa Hirji, Niagara’s acting medical officer of health.
Hirji said while workers were sometimes physically distanced and wearing masks while on the job, they were in close contact without masks on breaks, giving the virus more opportunity to spread.
On Tuesday, the health department confirmed an addi
tional 45 COVID-19 cases.
Those infected are a mix of temporary foreign workers and domestic employees.
Hirji said because One Floral does not have a “front-facing” business with public access, he is not expecting more cases from the farm because everyone has been tested.
Those who tested positive are in isolation while they recover, as are others who were in contact with them.
“We did not order them to shut down, that was a step they had to take because so many people are unable to work,” Hirji said.
Olsthoorn said the farm’s first order of business is to ensure the safety and well-being of One Floral’s staff. He gave health department officials high marks for supporting the business through the pandemic.
“They have been great,” he said. “They have been down here every day.”
Outbreaks are only declared over if a group or facility has gone two weeks with no new cases of COVID-19. Employees can return to work if they are symptom-free two weeks after showing symptoms.
As a result, Olsthoorn is planning on a staggered return of his workers as they recover and the farm will ramp up operations as
employees return to duty.
The One Flower outbreak is the second large agricultural pandemic outbreak in Niagara. In June more than 40 people were sickened by the novel coronavirus at Pioneer Flower Farm in St. Catharines.
There were no new cases linked to One Floral Group Wednesday, a day that saw another 28 new COVID-19 cases in Niagara.
Hirji said 16 of those cases were the result of household spread linked to previously identified infections and five were linked to private parties.
When the flower farm outbreak is excluded, Niagara’s data remains in the high end of the
metrics that define the province’s COVID-19 alert system. While Hirji said the local infection rate has somewhat stabilized, he said another surge would push the health department’s ability to contact trace beyond its limits, and would likely prompt Queen’s Park to move Niagara into the more restrictive orange alert status.
Hirji said if Niagara residents physically distance, wear masks, wash their hands and stay home if they show symptoms, the region can lower its infection rate.