By: Marnie Eisenstadt
Oneida, N.Y. — Madison County health officials are investigating whether Green Empire Farms failed to get a required permit to house migrant workers in local hotels.
The county is also planning to inspect the living conditions of migrant workers now housed in two hotels following an outbreak of COVID-19 among migrant workers at the 64-acre farm under glass. The outbreak is the largest in Upstate outside of the cluster in New Rochelle.
The workers were brought to Oneida by MAC Contracting, a migrant labor contractor from Indiana hired by the farm.
The migrant workers were living four to a room, two to a bed, said Madison County Public Health Director Eric Faisst. He said it was farmworkers’ living conditions, not the conditions at the greenhouse, that fueled the spread of the highly contagious coronavirus. The migrant workers were also shuttled to work and back on vans and buses, another source of concern.
Last week, 169 workers at the greenhouse tested positive for the virus. Two were sick enough to be hospitalized, but have since recovered. Of those workers, 83 that tested positive for the virus are living at the Super 8 and Days Inn in Madison County. There are also 82 COVID-19 positive migrant workers living in Oneida County; many are at the La Quinta Hotel.
In total, there are 186 workers for Green Empire Farm living at the hotels.
Madison County was not aware that the migrant workers were living at hotels until late March, county officials said in a news release this evening. And it wasn’t until this past week that county officials knew the living conditions were so cramped, they said.
County officials said 16 hotel workers in Madison County also were tested; none had contracted the virus.
No hotel workers are cleaning the rooms of COVID-19 positive workers, county officials said.
The county has asked the state for guidance on how to deal with the hotel being used as migrant living quarters and plan to inspect the hotels soon.
“Once we have that information we will conduct an investigation to ensure the workers are in living conditions that adhere to New York State Migrant Farmworker Housing regulations and issue citations as needed,” county officials said in a statement.
Article Obtained from: https://www.syracuse.com/news/2020/05/green-empire-farm-coronavirus-outbreak-madison-county-wants-to-inspect-migrant-living-conditions-at-hotels.html
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