Close quarters contribute to greenhouse outbreak
More than a dozen migrant workers at a St. Catharines greenhouse sickened by the novel coronavirus were not using protective equipment and lived in close quarters that could contribute to the spread of the virus, Niagara’s acting medical officer of health says.
Dr. Mustafa Hirji said the 17 employees at Pioneer Flower Farms were not generally using equipment to limit the spread of the virus.
“You could spread out, but the reality is that you don’t know what the interactions (between workers) is like,” said Hirji. “Given the outbreak, we are recommending their employees now use PPE.”
He also said that living quarters for migrant workers can be similar to any multi-person dwelling, where active efforts must be made to prevent spread of COVID-19.
“Many of the cases we have seen in Niagara have been where one person in a household is infected and they end up being the source that infects other persons in the household,” said Hirji. “It is like that (with migrant farm workers quarters).”
While workers who tested positive for COVID-19 are in isolation, Hirji said public health staff are working to ensure they are properly isolated.
“This means moving people from one living quarters to another so that all infected people are living together, and those who had a high degree of exposure are living together,” Hirji said.
In a Sunday Facebook post, Pioneer Flower Farms management said at least 20 staff had tested positive for the virus, with the first suspected case being uncertain. The post said one of its migrant workers at its Seventh Street greenhouse had COVID-19
symptoms two weeks ago and was isolated. However, later that same week two other international workers also showed COVID-19 symptoms and they later tested positive.
On Friday, the company requested all of its 80 greenhouse employees be tested. That was done Sunday afternoon, with the results showing 18 staff infected coming in at 7:30 p.m.
Hirji said that timeline is not accurate. He said a public health investigation over the past week resulted in “broaderbased testing” because of the close working and living conditions of the employees.
Two batches of tests were done last week. The Sunday results showed 17 infections. Another batch of test results is outstanding.
Pioneer said it will continue to pay its workers while they are recovering in isolation.
“As you know this is not something we can run from, but simply try to reduce the spread and localize it to our farm,” its social media post said.
International farmworkers are a critical labour force for Canadian farms and have been allowed to enter the country through the pandemic border lockdown. Federal regulations require the workers to self-isolate for two weeks when they arrive and Ottawa placed the onus for infection control on farm operators.
Hirji said it appears the farm is abiding by those regulations. While it is not clear where the first Pioneer employee was infected, Hirji said it was not a travel-related case.
“That person acquired it somewhere in the community,” Hirji said. “What this shows us is that COVID-19 is not gone and it can still spread, and it remains just as important to practise physical distancing and hand hygiene and masking when physical distancing is not possible.”
Hirji said the outbreak reinforces the need for people with mild COVID-19 symptoms to come forward. Some of the workers said they had no symptoms, but public health investigations found they did show symptoms, however mild or brief.
The outbreak is the largest single cluster of COVID-19 cases in Niagara outside of long-term-care homes and is the latest blow to Pioneer Flower Farms which has been trying to recover from a massive August 2019 fire which destroyed millions of plants.
Like many greenhouses, Pioneer has been economically impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic as outlets that normally buy much of its stock, including grocery stores, are buying fewer plants.