Covid-19 outbreaks increasing on farms, but farmworkers don't have much protection - Entrepreneur Generations

Crowded working conditions and weak legal protections for undocumented workers have helped meatpacking plants become rural pandemic epicenters. Now the same factors may be causing covid-19 spikes on farms. 

"Farm outbreaks are already cropping up across the country: A large orchard in Washington tested 70 workers for the coronavirus and found more than 50 positive cases, for example. And in Monterey County, Calif., nearly 1 in 4 coronavirus cases is an ag worker, according to local officials," Ryan McCrimmon reports for Politico's Morning Agriculture. "Produce growers in the thick of harvest season are installing hand-washing stations, giving out facemasks and directing workers to keep their distance. But such protective measures are largely voluntary, and they’ve been inconsistent so far."

The Trump administration designated farm laborers as essential workers, but has not done much to keep them from getting sick, leaving states and the agriculture industry to take care of it, McCrimmon reports.

from The Rural Blog https://ift.tt/2STLITZ Covid-19 outbreaks increasing on farms, but farmworkers don't have much protection - Entrepreneur Generations

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