WINDSOR, ONT. -- Over 100 temporary migrant workers in self-isolation due to COVID-19 have received visits this week from the newly created migrant worker assessment outreach team.
Since Monday, Erie Shores HealthCare (ESHC) and Essex-Windsor EMS have teamed up to provide hands-on, in-person assessments and case-by-case COVID-19 testing for migrant workers at 15 different farms and greenhouses in Windsor- Essex County.
Two teams, comprised of a nurse practitioner, registered nurse, Spanish translator and a vulnerable patient navigator with EMS, visit greenhouses, housing facilities and motels.
“Our teams head out at 9 a.m. in the morning. They meet with the migrant workers population and we really go through risk health assessment with each worker,” says Kristin Kennedy, ESHC chief nursing executive.
The team develops healthcare plans, address virus-related questions and concerns. Workers in need of extra assessment are transferred to the hospital.
“We have diverted approximately seven to 10 migrant workers to the hospital for care through our emergency room but they have not required admission to the hospital,” says Kennedy.
This initiative comes as a migrant worker in his 30s from Mexico who worked at Essex County farm died of COVID-19 on Saturday, becoming the youngest person to fall victim to the virus in the region. In total, 177 migrant workers have tested positive for the virus. This represents around 18 per cent of the total case count in Windsor-Essex.
ESHC has expanded the hours of their COVID-19 testing site; however there are still accessibility barriers for migrant workers to receive assessment.
“These people are working hard and I think that may be a barrier in terms of having time to get here. Transportation is also an issue,” says Dr. Ross Moncur, ESHC chief of staff and interim CEO.
He says this initiative is a temporary solution that will most likely not continue past the COVID-19 pandemic. However he’s looking into starting a Phase 2 of the project that will provide more long term fixes.
“The main goal here is to bridge the gap between what other segments of our society and populations have access to and what some of the temporary foreign workers might have access to.”
Essex MPP Taras Natyshak is calling on the province to provide more support for migrant workers. He says the new migrant worker assessment program is a “positive step,” but more needs to be done.
“Migrant workers at the new epicenter of work place transmission of COVID-19. Their work environment is in close proximity. Their housing conditions are typically in sort of a bunk situation. That is a recipe for transmission.”
He believes this is an opportunity for all levels of government to re-evaluate the regulations that guide and govern the migrant worker population in Canada.
