COVID-19 Outbreak Among Farmworkers — Okanogan County, Washington, May–August 2020

Details

• Journal Article:
  Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• Personal Author:
  Miller, James S. ; Holshue, Michelle ; Dostal, Tia K.H. ; Newman, Laura P. ; Lindquist, Scott
• Description:
  Okanogan County, Washington, experienced increased community Transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the Virus that causes COVID-19, during summer 2020 (1). Multiple COVID-19 outbreaks occurred in agricultural settings, including a large outbreak among employees of a fruit grower during May-August. Because of this outbreak, Okanogan County Public Health and the Washington State Department of Health initiated one-time, on-site screening tTesting (2) of all orchard and warehouse employees in August 2020 and assessed risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection. Among 3,708 known orchard employees, a valid SARS-CoV-2 test result or information on COVID-19-like symptoms in the absence of a test was available for 3,013 (81%). Cumulative incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection during approximately 3 months among tested orchard employees was 6%. Cumulative incidence was 12% in employees residing in the community, compared with 4% in employees residing in farmworker housing (p<0.001); point prevalence during the single screening tTesting event was 1% in both groups. Among 1,247 known warehouse employees, a valid result was available for 726 (58%). Cumulative incidence over approximately 3 months among tested warehouse employees was 23%, with substantial variation across job roles. Positive test results were received by 28% of employees who worked packing and sorting fruit, 24% of those in other roles in the packing and sorting area, 10% of forklift operators, 7% of employees in other warehouse roles, and 6% of office employees. Point prevalence among all warehouse workers was 1% at the screening tTesting event. Collaboration among employers, community groups, and public health authorities can reveal risk factors and help decrease farmworkers' risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection in the community and the workplace. Creation of a COVID-19 assessment and control plan by agricultural employers, with particular focus on indoor workers whose jobs limit physical distancing, could reduce workplace Transmission.
• Subjects:
  CoronaVirus Infections COVID-19 COVID-19 Testing Disease Outbreaks Farmers Humans Incidence Occupational Diseases Physical Distancing Risk Factors
• Source:
  MMWR Morbidity Mortal Weekly Rep. 70(17):617-621
• Series:
  Weekly Report: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• ISSN:
  0149-2195 (print) ; 1545-861X (digital)
• Pubmed ID:
  33914719
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC8084124
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Washington
• Pages in Document:
  5 pdf pages
• Volume:
  70
• Issue:
  17
• Collection(s):
  Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:6387e3cad8556b306f45904665ea86e5749733df0009c9f608c774987c7aae239b594482ecb3e6c467b2161c8ebd7c8245d07e2cb84fce991bb265957f30fa63
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/106178/cdc_106178_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 98.03 KB ]