Tomato, pepper, cucumber greenhouse near Windsor reports 191 coronavirus cases, health unit swoops in

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“Given the size of this outbreak, the potential for COVID-19 transmission, and the ongoing risk to the health and safety of the workers, medical officer of health Dr. Wajid Ahmed is issuing an order under section 22 of the Health Protection and Promotion Act … effective July 1. The order requires the owner/operator of the farm to ensure the isolation of workers and prohibits them from working until further direction.”

A bus carrying about 10 passengers leaves a Nature Fresh Farms facility in Leamington on Wednesday. NICK BRANCACCIO / Windsor Star

The health unit did not identify the farm, but the United Food and Commercial Workers said Wednesday that workers from Nature Fresh, which grows tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers, told it that a supervisor told them the company had been shut down.
“They were told that the company has been ordered to shut down their operation,” said Santiago Escobar, a UFCW national representative. “The workers said they have to (isolate) 14 days.”He said workers told him late Wednesday that the facility is being disinfected.

We have to see what unfolds in the next day with the numbers

The health unit was not available to comment further. Nature Fresh owner Peter Quiring could not be reached for comment.

WINDSOR, ON. MARCH 21, 2020 - The Windsor-Essex County region has its first confirmed COVID-19 case, a man in his 60s who recently returned from a Caribbean cruise. Dr. Wajid Ahmed, Medical Officer of Health with the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit speaks during a press conference on Saturday, March 21, 2020. (DAN JANISSE/The Windsor Star)
Dr. Wajid Ahmed, medical officer of health with the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit, speaks during a news conference in Windsor on March 21, 2020. DAN JANISSE/Windsor Star

The health unit news release stated that “the safety and well-being of all workers is our top priority. It is imperative that we stop the transmission of COVID-19 in this farm and our agricultural sector. All affected workers must be isolated and their health and wellbeing be monitored before any return to work can be discussed.”

The total number of workers who must isolate and the plan for how to do that isn’t completely clear yet, said Claudia den Boer, one of the leaders of the response to the crisis.

“The situation is changing rapidly … there are many moving parts,” she said in an email Wednesday. “Given it is a holiday today we are doing our best to gather the details to inform go forward plans and coordinate with other involved stakeholders.”

But one worker told Escobar that he is experiencing a fever, cough and headaches and is being isolated in a hotel room.
“He is very concerned because he’s by himself in a hotel room,” Escobar said. “He wants to be moved to a hospital.”Any worker who tests positive for the virus will be covered by Workplace Safety and Insurance Board benefits, said Justine Taylor of the Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers.  Those isolated because they’ve been in contact with a case would typically be paid by their employer, she said. That could be offset by insurance that covers 90 per cent of wages.But Escobar said he is helping some workers apply for the federal government’s CERB benefit because WSIB is so complicated.

Some workers also want to apply for an open work permit, he said, “because they don’t want to work under these conditions.” He said they cited living in bunkhouses with at least 20 other workers.“A couple of workers told me they’ve been taking care of themselves, using masks, washing their hands, but if you share housing with 20 others it’s very tough to keep yourself safe.”It’s too early to determine the impact of the shutdown on the farm, said Taylor.

“It will depend on what the plan is … how the workforce is isolated, what potential there is for any of the workforce to return to work,” she said. “But obviously when you’re dealing with a living crop, there’s always the possibility that the crop might perish if they’re not able to source replacement labour.”

A notice in Spanish was posted on the Facebook page of Mexicanos en Leamington stating that Nature Fresh is looking for emergency workers for two to four weeks. It states the farm will accept all the hours they can work.

Kingsville, Ontario. June 30, 2020. Leamington Mayor Hilda Macdonald listens to Kingsville and Leamington small business owners and elected officials during Tuesday's event at Carnegie Arts and Visitors Centre. See story by Schmidt. (NICK BRANCACCIO/Windsor Star)
Leamington Mayor Hilda Macdonald listens to Kingsville and Leamington small business owners and elected officials during Tuesday’s event at Carnegie Arts and Visitors Centre. NICK BRANCACCIO/Windsor Star

“We have to see what unfolds in the next day with the numbers,” Leamington Mayor Hilda MacDonald said. “Shutting down a large farm has a huge impact on the industry. But we have to trust our health officials that it has to be done.”

MacDonald worried that shutting down Nature Fresh “will strike fear in the hearts of other farms,” and their owners won’t volunteer to have their workers tested.

“There are no winners here,” she said. “But something drastic has to happen to stop the spread.”Ahmed said Tuesday that infected farm workers will not be permitted to return to work even if they’re asymptomatic.Ontario Premier Doug Ford said last week that infected workers who are asymptomatic could continue working, but Ahmed referenced his authority Tuesday and said he will not allow that.

“All the positive cases are not allowed to return to work,” he said.

He said Tuesday there are between 400 to 450 migrant workers in isolation.

The premier said later Tuesday he respected Ahmed’s decision.

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“That’s a choice of Dr. Ahmed,” he said. “He has been doing a good job. If there are cases as we have seen on one farm with 175 cases, that’s going to be his decision.“But in other situations maybe he might be more flexible, but I can understand where he is coming from.”The health unit reported nine new cases Wednesday, seven from the agri-farm sector, one health care worker and one case from the community.

On Tuesday, the health unit reported 22 new cases — six farm workers, four health care workers and 12 whose backgrounds have not been identified yet. One health care worker was from city-owned Huron Lodge. The city has suspended all non-essential visits at Huron Lodge until further notice.

There are now 1,611 confirmed cases in Windsor and Essex County, with 893 of those resolved and 68 deaths. Two long-term care homes have outbreaks, and four workplaces have two or more cases.Ahmed said Tuesday he was not yet considering shutting down any farms to slow the spread among migrant workers.“There is a variation among different farms,” he said. “You have a farm with no positives, then another with a high number and another in the middle with five or less. It makes it difficult to cover each farm with the same paint brush.

“A complete stoppage (of the industry) is not sustainable and anything we do has to make public health sense. We need to find the right balance and employers have a role to play.”

FROM: Anne Jarvis, Dave Battagello  •  Windsor Star