Shared lodging blamed as cases of COVID-19 rise among farm workers

Fourteen additional agricultural farm workers have contracted COVID-19 locally, the Windsor-essex County Health Unit reported on Friday.

Over the course of the week, 57 out of the region’s 74 new confirmed cases were among employees of agricultural farms, including migrant workers and community residents.

“These individuals share homes, sometimes 12 to 15 people in one house,” medical officer of health Dr. Wajid Ahmed said regarding migrant workers in bunk houses who have tested positive for COVID-19. “If one or two of them get a case, guess what: everyone else is going to get a case, too. You can easily see that number multiply.”

Although Lakeside Produce in Leamington identified itself on May 12 as one facility where migrant workers had tested positive — 13 of them, at that point — the health unit will not name any other farms with confirmed cases among its employees. While longterm care and retirement homes are subject to disclosure practices similar to those in place at restaurants inspected by public health, private businesses like agricultural farms are not, Ahmed said.

Unless the health unit feels a particular farming operation’s COVID-19 cases pose a risk to the community and that risk can be proven, it cannot name those businesses under privacy law.

“I feel it would be irresponsible to target any particular farm or industry where the (spread of COVID -19) is not linked directly to the business but more on the practices of human behaviour,” Ahmed said. “If there is any evidence that one particular industry is at risk or employees who are working there are at risk, we will be the first one to notify and take appropriate action to either close the business down for further investigation, or take appropriate action to contain and limit the spread of the disease in that particular industry.”

When a farm employee at a previously unaffected facility tests positive for the virus, the ministry of health launches an investigation of that workplace, he said. Public health is responsible for the case and contact management, and for inspecting the living spaces of migrant workers. That includes the places like hotels and separate bunk houses those workers are placed in order to self-isolate after contracting COVID-19.

The health unit on Tuesday issued new orders limiting agricultural farm employees to only one workplace, and requiring that farms adhere to all directions provided by public health, including self-isolation orders for employees, active screening and physical distancing. Facility owners and operators who fail to comply can be fined up to $5,000 for every day or part of each day on which a non-compliance offence occurs or continues.

As of Friday, the health unit had not issued any fines for non-compliance with its order to local agricultural farming facilities.

Ahmed said most of the cases among the migrant worker population were traced back to close contacts within shared accommodations, rather than from community spread.

As of Friday morning, Windsor-essex has 950 confirmed cases of COVID-19, up 23 from Thursday. Of those, 495 individuals have recovered, 231 are self-isolating, and 16 are in hospital. The status of 144 people who have tested positive for the disease is currently unknown to the health unit.

The death count remains at 63. No new deaths have been reported since May 15.