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“We believe there has been a laxity in public health compliance that has resulted in the 40 cases,” she said.
Public health officials didn’t find any violations, but the investigation is continuing, Lock said.
The outbreak is an “an evolving situation” and the health unit continues to work with Martin’s Family Fruit Farms, she said.
Kevin Martin, the president of Martin’s Family Fruit Farms, said the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed Friday. The company began working with public health officials to test all of the workers at the orchard.
Over the course of the weekend, more than 30 of the Bayham orchard’s roughly 150 workers were confirmed to have the virus, Martin said.
“We’ve been working very closely with public health and isolating all the positive cases. We’re following all recommendations of public health. We’re checking in very regularly, so hopefully everyone recovers. We’re taking care of everyone,” he said.
Martin said all of the employees on the site – a mix of migrant and local workers – had already been following public-health guidelines, including physical distancing and regular hand washing.
The outbreak, Martin said, was confirmed shortly before the farm’s final harvest, which should be wrapping up this week.
“Public health has been great and informative. We’re appreciative of their health. We’re most concerned with the health and safety of everyone.”
The large orchard, which ships about nine to 10 million kilograms of apples every year, has multiple bunkhouses for its migrant workers.
