Farmworkers test positive in Simcoe

NORFOLK COUNTY, ONT.— Premier Doug Ford pledged Monday to ramp up testing for thousands of migrant workers across Ontario after a number of new farm outbreaks were reported in recent days.

Ford attributed a spike in Ontario’s positive COVID-19 cases to the farms, saying more than 80 migrant workers have tested positive for the virus.

He said he has seen first-hand the communal bunkhouses where workers live, which advocates say can contribute to the spread of the virus.

“I will definitely be addressing this with public health to make sure that we get all the migrant workers tested to keep them safe, to keep the supply chain and the food safe,” he said. “We’re on this.”

Approximately 20,000 migrant workers come to Ontario each year to work on farms and in greenhouses. Many of the workers come from Mexico, the Caribbean and Guatemala and when they arrived this year they were required to self-isolate for 14 days.

Outbreaks that have affected dozens of migrant workers have been reported in Chatham-Kent, Windsor-Essex, Niagara Region and Elgin County.

Sunday, the Norfolk County mayor said 120 workers at a local farm had tested positive for COVID-19, with seven admitted to hospital. The Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit said 85 migrant workers were affected and the Mexican government liaison had been notified. The unit said it is working with the Scotlynn Group farm, and its clinical staff are developing a plan to monitor symptomatic workers.