Local officials provide update on agri-food workers

By Mark Ribble

ESSEX COUNTY — It appears that municipal leaders throughout the region are all on the same page when it comes to the battle against COVID-19 in the agri-farm sector.

In a Zoom meeting held to update the media on the situation with the agrifood workers on Friday, Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens was joined by Kingsville Mayor Nelson Santos, Leamington Mayor Hilda MacDonald and Essex County Warden Gary McNamara, as well as Erie Shores HealthCare acting CEO Dr. Ross Moncur and President and CEO of Windsor Regional Hospital, David Musyj.

The panel discussed the situation on the farms, the ongoing testing efforts and the possibility of needing additional accommodation for positive cases to isolate.

They all agreed on one thing — the upper levels of government must step up and take charge of the situation.

“The testing is slow and steady,” said Mayor MacDonald. “The province needs to up its game and provide incentives for getting tested.”

By incentives, Mayor MacDonald means that the upper levels have to figure out a way to get farms and workers to comply with testing.

“Growers have to be presented with a carrot or a stick to entice them to get everyone tested,” she added.

While Dilkens stopped short of naming the federal government when asked about who should be in charge, he did acknowledge that the feds and province have to play a lead role.

“Pandemics expose frailties in many systems,” he said. “We are calling on the province and federal government to provide support as we move through this.”

McNamara agreed and said there are many different jurisdictions involved. “The pandemic has exposed gaps in the system,” he said. MacDonald was definitive when she urged the federal government to take the lead.

“They are the first and last word as we go forward,” she said. “They should have followed through, but they didn’t.”

The county officials agreed that, collectively, they are working as a team and making some headway, but there is much work to be done.

“Windsor-Essex has been nothing short of extraordinary,” added Musyj.

Musyj explained that about one third of the farm workers have been tested and that number needs to escalate if we are to overcome the pandemic and keep the hospitals from being overwhelmed.

“We need testing in the agri-food industry like we had for employees and visitors in long term care homes,” he said.

Dr. Moncur updated those present on the onsite testing that followed the agri-food workers assessment centre that was set up at the Nature Fresh Farms Recreation Complex in Leamington.

“We continue to help the teams in the field and remain at the table to provide support and assistance wherever we can,” he said.

In the end, the group agreed that they need the upper levels of government to take a lead role and organize a sustained, targeted solution to help keep the numbers down and keep the virus from spreading as it has in the United States.

Emergency Management Ontario has people on the ground in Essex County, currently assisting the Canadian Red Cross with evaluating testing and isolation locations.