According to the report of the California Institute for Rural Studies (CIRS), Monterey County farm staff are 3 times more likely to catch COVID-19 than staff in any other industry.
Another survey showed that lack of documentation, insufficient employer coverage, and the combination of technological illiteracy make agricultural staff much more vulnerable to the disease through the virus than other county residents say researchers and advocates.
The preliminary effects of COVID-19’s farmworker “provide strong evidence that the existing pandemic amplifies the existing injustices that California farmers have long suffered,” he says.
Supporters called for a change in structural policy, resources for agricultural workers, adding loose COVID-19 evidence, and improved oversight through Cal/OSHA (the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration) and other hard work monitoring agencies.
A report by CIRS discoverer Don Villarejo, on an investigation of public fitness data from Monterey County, found that agricultural staff are 3 times more likely to contract COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, than Californians in other industries.
CiSRB found 900 agricultural employees (49% female and 51% male) in 21 California counties. Preliminary effects showed that staff suffered a lack of physical distance, had no masks and more, which probably contributed to the increased risk.
According to CIRS, the infection rate among farmworkers in Monterey County is true for other counties in the state, but is not verifiable at this time. CIRS found that 54 of California’s 58 counties do not publish data on infection rates among farmworkers.
“This is true throughout California, not just here,” said Norm Groot, executive director of the Monterey County Agricultural Office. “We are 25% positive in all cases, which is close to the total number of staff in agriculture compared to other economic sectors.
“I’ve noticed those numbers through other reports, so the 3 times I wasn’t surprised, however, the fact is that they are agricultural staff throughout the state, not just in Monterey County,” Groot said.
Ildi Carlisle-Cummins, Chief Executive Officer of CIRS, with Farm Bureau.
“It’s not smart for farmworkers, but it’s smart to know,” he said.
Dr. Ed Moreno, an official with the Monterey County Department of Public Health, most positive cases of agricultural staff are residential and social exhibitions, not exhibitions.
On Tuesday, the Monterey Department of Public Health showed that just under 25% of COVID-19 instances had been diagnosed in agricultural workers.
Estimates say about 800,000 farmworkers are employed in California. Most work at seasonal jobs and earn an average annual income of less than $18,000, per research published in the journal California Agriculture.
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Agricultural employment figures show that industry jobs fell 39% from an average of 3 years (2017-19) in Monterey County in April, May, and June, nearly double the state average of about 20%.
Nearly 100,000 jobs were lost among the pandemic’s agricultural staff.
In addition, almost a portion of respondents (46%) shortened shifts and loss of the pandemic’s source of income.
Many of those who spoke to IRSC researchers expressed fears about career situations and the lack of screening to keep other positive people at home. Social estrangement was unreachable or unsustainable if they had to finish their work, others said.
“In many ways, the workflow didn’t allow them to practice social estrangement,” said Nayaron Martinez, Executive Director of Environmental Justice of Central California. “Yes, we have heard about some of the practices implemented through manufacturers to protect their workers, however, Array … this was not the case for many.”
Less than one-third of California crop workers have health insurance, according to a U.S. Department of Labor’s National Agricultural Worker Survey.
And more than one part of the respondents reported fitness care issues that would save them from seeking help if they became stuck in COVID-19, such as lack of insurance or a low physical leave. Farm staff reported that only 54% of the structure sites provided face blankets, leaving them vulnerable to the virus.
He also advocates for alleged corruption.
Some said some agricultural marketers or farmers sold masks to farm staff that the state had given them for losing in an attempt to increase the cash box staff.
“There’s not enough oversight and there’s a lack of transparency,” said Imperial County advocate Esther Bejarano with Comité Cívico del Valle. “There’s a crisis in…California.”
Groot called the claim “egregious” and said it would “stick out like a sore thumb” among the growers and farm labor contractors of Monterey County.
Bejarano said she spoke with one farmworker who said 20+ people at his worksite have died, including the mayordomo, the Spanish word for crew manager.
“All pandemics are local,” said Villarejo of CIRS, calling for local action to address farmworker needs.
Paola Illescas, a representative of the Farmworker Care Coalition and Vista Community Clinic, said that technological illiteracy and lack of documentation or physical activity insurance were massive barriers for farm staff, which prevented them from going to medical offices, even when they were sick. She cited the fact that border patrol officers have the right to be within a hundred miles of the U.S. border, preventing agricultural personnel from illegally crossing the potentially important services border.
Up to 90% of California’s agricultural staff were born in Mexico; About 60% are allowed to paint in the United States, according to the Department of Labor’s 2017 National Agricultural Workers Survey.
Groot said he had asked several times in Monterey County to bring box tests, but had heard a lot about it in recent weeks. He highlighted the partnership between the Grower-Shipper Association and Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital to provide more evidence for farmworkers.
The lack and slow effects are added to the job, he said.
“Testing generally becomes a real point of contact because they tell us that we have to review everyone and that we don’t get effects for 8 to 10 days, which makes it necessary to locate contacts,” Groot said. “Cellular controls would be wonderful and I think a component has been made, but one limitation is also the lack of materials and effects.”
The virus endangers the lives of farmworkers, some say they have suffered reprisals after improving their fitness with their bosses.
Martínez said one survey respondent she spoke with had been left off the call-sheet for a week after asking for face coverings for herself and her fellow workers.
“If they get sick, the company can update them without problems and feel that their fitness is not taken into account as much as it should,” said Fernando Serrano of Alianza Ecologista.
The organization and its research partners have a number of changes.
Among others, they included: involving farmworkers in the design of work health and safety programs; increasing monitoring by Cal/Osha to improve enforcement and mandating reporting and timely release of data by public health officials and employers on COVID-19 cases by occupation and industry.
Oralia Maceda, with the Centro Binacional para el Desarollo Indígena Oaxaqueño, further pushed for structural and political change, adding that Indigenous or Latino communities often didn’t have the resources to do the work by themselves.
“We don’t have the no public and the resources to do this job,” Maceda said. “We have to change the angels of the ageling pole structure that exists Array.. and think of other ways to change this politician.”
This story has been updated to explain that Villarejo’s report on the coVID-19 threat among agricultural staff in Monterey County is independent of the survey of another 900 people on agricultural staff situations.
Kate Cimini is a journalist for The Californian, which includes agriculture, housing and health. Have you been discriminated against housing? Share your story at (831) 776-5137 or email [email protected]. Subscribe to local journalism.