May 8th, 2020 -Syracuse.com Article

Green Empire Farm workers are out of hospital; dozens of workers in coronavirus outbreak still quarantined
By: Marnie Eisenstadt

Oneida, N.Y. — The two farmworkers who had been hospitalized in the massive coronavirus cluster at Green Empire Farm have been released and are recovering at the hotels where they live.

The total number of infected farmworkers in the outbreak is 169, making it the largest virus cluster in Upstate New York, aside from New Rochelle. Dozens of workers remain quarantined at the Super 8, Days Inn and La Quinta hotels in Oneida and Verona.

They had been living there for months already while they planted and harvested in the sprawling greenhouse at the edge of the small city.

County and public health officials in Madison County said workers did not become infected with the virus while working at the farm. It was when migrant workers left the farm, on buses and in vans, and went back to the three local hotels where they were living four to a room, sleeping two to a bed, county officials said.

The migrant workers, more than half of the farm’s labor force, are employed by MAC Contracting out of Indiana. The farm labor company supplies workers for many of the farms owned by the Mastronardi produce company in Canada, which owns Green Empire.

The outbreak at Green Empire caught Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s attention after Madison County officials asked for state help to test all of the workers. An army of state and county workers tested 186 workers Saturday and 151 more on Tuesday.

The state is continuing to monitor the situation, said Jason Conwall, a spokesman for Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The greenhouse farm was inspected by the state office of Agriculture and Markets after the testing to make sure it was complying with the governor’s orders about worker safety.

“The state is in regular contact with local officials and providing assistance in handling the situation. We acted quickly upon learning of the COVID-19 cases among Empire Farms Greenhouse employees, with NYS DOH staff on site at the facility the next day testing workers,” Conwall said.

Madison County officials were going back out to the farm today to see if the farm had made changes the county requested. They had asked the farm to rearrange the break room so workers could be more spaced out. They also asked MAC to change its transportation plan so fewer workers would be crammed into the buses and vans on their trips to and from work.

Article Obtained from https://www.syracuse.com/news/2020/05/green-empire-farm-workers-are-out-of-hospital-dozens-of-workers-in-coronavirus-outbreak-still-quarantined.html