There have been at least 46 outbreaks at agriculture, food processing and migrant camp settings as of Sept. 17, according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
. Workers might not speak up about their health and safety because they're afraid of losing their jobs.
The worker at Todd Greiner Farms who got sick with COVID-19 said she and her colleagues stood about 2 feet apart on the production line and would bump into each other as they grabbed bundles of asparagus off a belt. “How can you keep the virus away from people when you’re doing that? How sure are you that the virus is going to be out or the germs are going to be out from those face masks?” the Hart resident said.
Walicki didn't have exact numbers Monday but said cases have increased only sporadically since MDHHS mandated farmworker testing in August as"I think because of the fact that we might have newer people in the area with the different harvest season, we’re starting to see a few different people get tested," she said. "Everybody else had been tested, isolated, quarantined."
"We do make sure everybody's wearing masks," Fusilier told the Free Press."I have one of my ladies who was working for me, she's in charge of making sure our crews are doing the right things and trying to abide by the rules of the executive orders. And so we were trying very hard." A number of immigrant advocates supported the state order, while some farms and farmworkers alleged it unfairly targeted farms and Latinos. Opponents filed a federal lawsuit challenging the order.
Last year, Migrant Legal Aid referred 67 complaints about housing conditions and other issues to the department of agriculture. They’ve made 102 referrals so far this year, Hendricks said. On a warm afternoon in late August, Hendricks and law clerk Molly Spaak packed a van with more than 100 bags of cloth masks, hand sanitizer, plastic gloves and information about how workers could reach them with complaints. They headed north of Grand Rapids to Kent County’s “Fruit Ridge,” where the apple harvest was just beginning.
Brenda Martinez, 32, the wife of a farmworker, is reflected in the sunglasses of Migrant Legal Aid Executive Director Teresa Hendricks on Monday, Aug. 31, 2020 as Hendricks speaks to Martinez about COVID-19.Hendricks said farmworker testing is well-intended, but the fact that people can’t work while they have the virus is a hardship for those who aren’t paid sick time. She mentioned a woman who went a month without income while she had COVID-19.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Spain reports 31,428 new cases of COVID-19 since FridaySpain has recorded 31,428 more coronavirus cases since Friday, bringing the total number of confirmed infections to 671,468, health ministry data showed on Monday.
Read more »
Global shares fall sharply, investors seek safety as COVID-19 cases riseMarkets turned risk-averse on Monday and European shares hit their lowest in seven weeks as rising COVID-19 infection rates in Europe prompted renewed lockdown measures, casting doubt over economic recovery.
Read more »
U.K. PM orders British pubs to close early as Covid-19 cases rise'We have reached a perilous turning point,' the prime minister told Parliament. 'This is the moment when we must act.'
Read more »
Canada at 'crossroads' as COVID-19 cases surgeCOVID-19 infections have surged in Canada and if people do not take stringent precautions, they could balloon to exceed levels seen during the first wave of the pandemic, health officials warned on Monday.
Read more »