Thank You Local Hospitals, Health Officials for Helping Our Region’s Farmworkers

Hospitals, health officials, and health care workers have provided significant resources and information to help prevent COVID 19 among farmworkers in our region. Together with the Grower-Shipper Association of Central California (GSA) and the broader ag community, the hospitals and health officials have secured on-farm training for farmworkers, additional personal protective equipment (PPE) as well as separate and comfortable quarantine housing for any worker who may be ill, test positive for COVID 19 or have been exposed to the virus.

“Whenever we have asked, they have been there,” says Chris Valadez, GSA’s President. “We can’t thank the health community enough for their commitment and the invaluable help they have provided to farmers and farmworkers.”

Prevention Training:
GSA has partnered with Mee Memorial Hospital, Natividad, Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System and Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula to provide on-farm bilingual training for farmworkers about the prevention of COVID 19 both at work and home. Doctors and nurses are conducting this on-farm training as well as answering questions from farmworkers about the illness.

To date, more than 3,300 farmworkers have received or are scheduled to receive this expert guidance on prevention. These sessions are being conducted in addition to illness prevention training already required in California.

“Farmers and farming companies have had worker safety training programs in place for many years, as required by state law. Now they are incorporating new information to prevent the spread of COVID 19 and meet state and local orders related to this pandemic,” says Abby Taylor-Silva, GSA’s Vice President of Policy and Communications. “However, the ability to have doctors and nurses answer questions directly about COVID 19 gives farmworkers additional information and guidance and also helps dispel misconceptions about the virus that seem to emerge constantly,” says Taylor-Silva.

Securing PPE:
While many farmworkers already use face coverings to protect themselves from the dust and sun, the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) recommendation for the use of face masks in early April had farmers and farming companies working diligently to secure more. To supplement those efforts, Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital and GSA partnered to order up to one million surgical-type face masks for use by farmworkers. GSA will coordinate distribution of the masks to farmers and farming companies for their employees throughout the region.

Separate Housing:
Many companies have individual plans in place and are following CDC guidelines to quickly and responsibly take needed actions if any farm employee becomes ill or tests positive for COVID 19. GSA has assisted its members by working with county and local health officials to secure quarantine housing in comfortable surroundings. Whether the affected employee lives and works in our region or if they are guest workers here on an H-2A visa, the goal is for workers to have access to separated housing where they can rest and recover while protecting their families and/or housemates from contracting this illness.

Food and other needed necessities are provided while an employee recuperates in quarantined housing. Medical professionals from Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital check in daily with each quarantined farmworker to monitor their health, progress, and recovery.

These new prevention and protection efforts are in addition to previous steps taken by county officials and the agricultural community which include the development of on-farm and worker housing protocols and guidance for COVID 19 which were originally released and distributed throughout the Central Coast on March 20. These protocols are ever-changing, not evergreen, as we learn more and find better ways to protect farmworkers from COVID 19.

“While we have made strides in our protocols and systems, no one is done yet,” Valadez says. “As we continue to battle this virus in our local communities and throughout our state, GSA, the agricultural community, and our health care partners will continue to coordinate COVID prevention and protection efforts for farmworkers who are essential to our nation.”