The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit has placed a three-week pause on bringing any more temporary foreign workers into the region to work on area farms.
Calling it a "public health emergency," Acting Medical Officer of Health Doctor Shanker Nesathurai said cases of COVID-19 have risen sharply in the past week among the migrant worker population. The Recovery and Isolation Centre in Windsor and three other hotels are now full of workers self-isolating with the virus, and dozens more are waiting to get a room at one of those facilities.
Public health officials are watching eight outbreaks that have infected 275 people so far.
"It's not just the number of cases. It's the trajectory of cases," explained Nesathurai. "We were at zero people in the self-isolation residence just last week, and we saturated the self-isolation residence within days."
Medical services are available at that centre, but not at the other three hotels where workers are staying.
The health unit has asked the federal government for additional funding. It is already supporting the self-isolation centre, but the City of Windsor has requested another $17.8-million to keep it open beyond the end of March. However, Nesathurai said right now, that's not enough to provide "compassionate" care for everyone isolating.
"We have made requests formally for additional support," he said. "I remain optimistic that the support that has been requested will be forthcoming."
About 2,000 temporary foreign workers were expected to arrive in the region over the next few weeks. Nesathurai said if they show the same rate of illness as those already here, it could easily overwhelm hospitals. He said they're at 97 per cent capacity now.
Earlier in the pandemic, high case counts on farms brought to light the state of workers' living conditions. Asked if living conditions have substantively changed, CEO Nicole Dupuis responded farm operators have reduced the number of workers living in close quarters and provided measures to separate them. However, Nesathurai suggested he's still not satisfied with the state of bunkhouses in Canada.
"I think it's fair to say there are clear opportunities for improvement," he assessed.
Nesathurai said the three-week pause would allow public health officials, EMS, area hospitals, and other partners to formulate a plan to provide adequate care for workers who become ill. He suggested that could be extended beyond February 2.
