MIGRANT WORKER TESTING MOVING TO ‘HYBRID’ PLAN
Disappointing numbers force province to try new tactics
After seeing only a tenth of the targeted farm-worker population, a temporary COVID -19 testing centre set up in Leamington is closing down on Thursday.
“It didn’t do too well — I’m a little bit disappointed,” said Martin Varelo, chairman of the Leamington-based Migrant Worker Community Program, one of a number of partners in the initiative set up under the direction of
Health Ontario to test seasonal farm workers
Despite offering free transportation and quick evaluations by doctors and nurses in a safe, controlled environment, fewer than 800 individuals were seen over nine days, a fraction of the goal set of testing 8,000 migrant farm workers over a two-week period, according to Erie Shores Healthcare.
The innovative collaboration was deemed a success, however, in establishing a model for future mass public testing.
“Should circumstances change based on federal and/or provincial guidance involving the agri-foods/ temporary foreign worker sector, the partners will revisit this model for further worker testing,” Erie Shores Healthcare said in a statement on Wednesday.
Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens has called on the province to order mandatory COVID-19 testing of all workers in the local agri-food sector, which has become a coronavirus hot spot. Premier Doug Ford, however, while urging Ontario growers to get their workers tested, indicated Wednesday that would not happen.
“You can’t force anyone to be tested,” he told reporters in response to a question about the farm outbreaks. “To the farmers and the workers … just please get tested,” Ford said after complaining that “nobody showed up” at the Leamington agri-worker assessment centre. “I don’t know what more I can do.”
As of Friday, Windsor-essex will be one of only three of 34 public-health regions in Ontario not permitted to move to the next stage of reopening local economies. The COVID-19 outbreaks on farms in Leamington and Kingsville were cited by the province as the reason.
Responding to criticism and the situation in Essex County, Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott announced Wednesday a new “hybrid” plan that would see a standalone testing centre complemented by mobile teams moving from farm to farm. Elliott said a standalone site could test all farm workers in 10 days, but the experience in Leamington showed the need for a different model.
The health minister’s announcement came the same day as local MPP Taras Natyshak (NDP — Essex) slammed Ford for not taking necessary actions he said are available to the Progressive Conservative government to address “the migrant worker crisis in Windsor-essex.”
One of Natyshak’s proposals was to deploy “mobile testing units directly to farms to test all workers, whether or not they have symptoms.” He also called for “proper accommodations … to replace bunkhouses where physical distancing is impossible” for those workers who test positive and need to self-isolate in order to not spread the highly contagious virus.
Beyond the pandemic, Natyshak is calling on the province to “develop a long-term plan for the farming and food-processing sector that ensures migrant workers have safe working and living conditions,” and which would help avoid food supply-chain disruptions due to any future COVID-19 waves.
Mexico, which supplies the majority of about 8,000 seasonal workers to the important local agri-food sector, announced Monday it was putting a “pause” on the program until Canada can ensure the health and safety of its citizens.
“While Ford sits on his hands and blames others, more workers will become infected and the virus will continue to spread in Windsor-essex,” Natyshak said in a statement. Up to 50 staff from a list of local, regional and provincial agencies and organizations had been set up since June 9 to check and process about 100 agri-food workers per hour at the assessment centre at the Nature Fresh Farms Recreation Centre in Leamington. Despite repeated calls from the Premier and other politicians, as well as health agencies and even voices within the farm business community itself, the response was poor.
An Erie Shores Healthcare spokesman said there were only “a couple dozen” visitors Wednesday morning, with zero farm workers scheduled for the afternoon.
Over nine days of testing almost 800 individuals, there were 85 workers “who presented with symptoms and who might otherwise not have had assessments,” according to ESHC.
Varela, whose group provides services and support to the thousands of foreign workers seasonally employed in Essex County, said there are probably “a lot of factors” explaining the poor uptake. Some growers, he said, were worried their workers might be mingling with those from other farms where there have been outbreaks, and local foreign workers are not accustomed to going to a doctor or a hospital “unless you’re seriously ill.”
“We needed to see a lot bigger number … I think there was a lack of knowledge,” said Varela. He said videos and literature in English and Spanish were made available to farm workers and growers in an attempt to dispel any misgivings.
COVID-19 assessment centres will continue to operate at Erie Shores Healthcare in Leamington and at the Ouellette campus of Windsor Regional Hospital. It was not clear on Wednesday how or when the health minister’s newest hybrid model would launch. The ESHC said continued operation of the assessment centre set up at Leamington’s recreation complex, given the poor turnout, was an inefficient use of health-system resources.
The Windsor-essex County Health Unit, the lead local agency in the fight against the novel coronavirus, has said there’s more than just testing to think about when it comes to eradicating COVID -19 on the farms.
In response, Dilkens on Tuesday offered to set up an “isolation and recovery centre” in Windsor to accommodate migrant farm workers from the county who test positive for COVID-19 and need space to self-isolate. Another barrier cited to getting more farm workers to come forward to be tested has been the potential for loss of pay, but Varela told the Star Wednesday that migrant workers would be covered for loss of income, should they test positive and be required to go into isolation.
“They get pay — the problem is the majority don’t know that,” he said, adding some paperwork is required and most workers from Mexico don’t understand English. “They pay taxes here, the same as us,” he said.
Ford urged farmers and workers in Essex County to get tested to help local communities move to the next stage of business reopenings. Ontario has been under a health state of emergency since March 17.
“It’s just not fair to the rest of the population. Please, just go get tested,” Ford said.