By: Kevin Tampone
Manhasset, N.Y. — The coronavirus hot spot raging at a large agricultural greenhouse in Madison County demonstrates that workplaces with people in close quarters can be breeding grounds for infection spikes, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said today.
“It is about worker density and large gatherings,” he said during a press briefing in Manhasset on Long Island. “That’s the caution flag here.”
The facility, Green Empire Farms in the city of Oneida, currently has 139 infections confirmed. Two workers have been hospitalized.
The state Health Department tested 186 workers over the weekend. More were tested yesterday.
Cuomo noted that various other food production facilities around the country, including multiple meat plants, have seen similar outbreaks. The type of product involved doesn’t matter, he added.
“It’s when you run a facility with a large number of workers in a dense environment,” he said.
It was a lesson New York learned early with one of its first hot spots in New Rochelle, Cuomo said. That involved big gatherings where the virus was able to spread easily.
The situation is being repeated now at the greenhouse, he said.
The facility employs 300 people. Owned by Mastronardi Produce of Kingsville, Canada, it grows and packages strawberries, tomatoes and cucumbers.
The site continues to operate and there are no plans to shut down. Workers who have tested positive are being quarantined in two hotels in the area.
Article Obtained from: https://www.syracuse.com/coronavirus/2020/05/madison-county-greenhouse-hot-spot-shows-worker-density-is-problem-cuomo-says.html
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