The agriculture sector has accounted for hundreds of new infections in Ontario in recent weeks, and thousands more workers are still expected to arrive before the year's end
Migrant farm workers line up outside the Nature Fresh Farm Recreation Centre in Leamington, Ont., to get tested for COVID-19, on June 11, 2020.Mayors and public-health officials in Ontario are calling on the provincial government to manage the initial COVID-19 quarantine period for incoming migrant farm workers, instead of leaving it up to employers to arrange isolation accommodations.
In Ontario alone, more than 1,150 migrant farm workers have tested positive for COVID-19, according to a Globe and Mail survey of local public-health units. Three men from Mexico have died. A Globe investigation into the outbreaks exposed myriad factors that made the workers vulnerable to the virus. Currently in Ontario, employers secure quarantine accommodations, which can involve group self-isolation in bunkhouses, trailers or sheds, or individual isolation in hotel rooms. While public-health units must approve the self-isolation plan to ensure compliance with quarantine requirements, housing inspections have been halted or conducted remotely during the pandemic.
Ms. MacDonald said a single jurisdiction should be responsible for managing the initial quarantine period. “We can learn from B.C.,” she said. “It needs to be one decision-making entity.”
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