Farmers in Oxford and Elgin counties who employ migrant workers will now have to adhere to 22 mandatory safety measures aimed at stopping the spread of COVID-19.
Southwestern Public Health, the health unit for the two counties, announced the new orders under Section 22 of Ontario’s Health Protection and Promotion Act on Wednesday. Local Medical Officer of Health Dr. Joyce Lock made it clear the required safety measures are being put in place to reduce the high risk of COVID-19 spread within the region's agricultural industry.
"Based on the number of large COVID-19 outbreaks in agricultural farms in similar regions across Ontario, this is a targeted, proactive measure intended to reduce the spread of COVID- 19 and ensure the health of these workers,” said Lock.
The order applies to all farms that employ migrant farmworkers sourced through the federal Temporary Foreign Workers program, local workers, and temporary help agency workers. Those operating seasonal housing accommodations also must comply with the safety measures.
The 22 requirements include a mandatory 14-day quarantine of anyone arriving in Canada, limiting work to a single farm operation, daily COVID screenings, immediate health unit notification of symptomatic workers, dividing workers into dedicated pods or cohorts, and physically distancing cohorts from others. Farms are also now required to provide alcohol-based hand sanitizer, stock worker washrooms with hand hygiene supplies, and disinfect high touch surfaces and worker residences twice daily.
There has been just one agricultural outbreak of the virus in the area covered by Southwestern Public Health. Twenty-four migrant workers and two local residents were infected during the outbreak. They have since recovered.
All measures come into effect as of noon on Wednesday and will remain in place until further notice.
"This is about local economics and Ontario’s food supply chain, of course. But most importantly, it is about protecting people who live and work together on area farms who want to return home to their lives and families after the agricultural season wraps up in the fall,” said Lock.
Anyone who fails to follow the new order could be fined up to $5,000 per day until compliance is met.
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 1,000 migrant workers employed at large farming operations in Ontario have tested positive for the virus. Three of those workers, two employed in Windsor-Essex and one in Norfolk County, have died. The outbreak among farmworkers in Windsor-Essex also led the Ford government to keep Leamington and Kingsville in Phase 1 of Ontario's reopening plan longer than any other part of the province.
To date, Elgin and Oxford counties have recorded a total of 85 cases of COVID-19, five of which resulted in death. Seventy-eight of the cases have since been resolved.
For a full list of the 22 mandatory measures issued by Southwestern Public Health click here.
