Farmworker housing outbreak: 154 workers released from isolation Tuesday

Over 100 farmworkers staying at a farmworker housing facility were released from isolation Tuesday after recovering from the coronavirus, in the county's largest coronavirus outbreak and one of the largest outbreaks among farmworkers in the state.

On June 25, all workers staying at the Villa Las Brisas farmworker housing facility in Oxnard were tested for the coronavirus after two farmworkers staying there tested positive. 

By July 7, a total of 204 people out of 216 had tested positive at the dorm-style facility that houses up to five farmworkers in each room. But 154 workers who previously tested positive were released Tuesday after remaining isolated for the required time and remaining symptom-free, according to Ventura County Public Health Director Rigoberto Vargas. 

Villa Las Brisas is owned and managed by berry company Reiter Affiliated Cos. and houses temporary migrant farmworkers in the H-2A visa program in dorm-style accommodations. The workers are employed by three separate farm labor contractors, not by Reiter. Under the H-2A program, employers are required to provide housing for temporary agricultural workers. 

So far, the majority of infected farmworkers have not had any serious symptoms, with the exception of one worker who reported continued breathing difficulties and was admitted to the hospital. That worker is now doing better, according to Vargas.

All of the workers released Tuesday have remained in isolation at Villa Las Brisas. Initially, workers who tested negative for the virus were quarantined at a motel. Some of those workers have since tested positive but remained at the motel. 

It is unclear what happens next for the farmworkers who have now been released from isolation. 

"That's really between the workers and their employer, for our purposes they're no longer in isolation and can either continue working or return home," said Vargas. 

Read More:Farmworker housing coronavirus outbreak: 188 test positive for COVID-19

About 35 of the total workers staying at Villa Las Brisas worked for labor contractor Elkhorn Packing. Those workers were initially scheduled to return home June 26 but stayed at Villa Las Brisas after the outbreak began. 

The other two farm labor contractors, Venegas Farming and Royal Oak Ag Services, did not respond to The Star's repeated requests for comment. 

Information about where the farmworkers worked has not been made available. According to Vargas, they worked in three different cities in Ventura County. The public health department does not plan on naming the specific locations. 

Outbreak raises questions about H-2A housing

The outbreak has heightened concerns from advocates about farmworkers' vulnerability to the virus due to their status as essential workers and crowded living conditions. 

In a joint statement last week, the Mixteco/Indigena Community Organizing Project and the Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy called on the farm labor contractors to pay farmworkers for time spent in quarantine, to pay for all housing and meals until workers return to their home country and to pay for all medical costs. 

According to Erica Vela, a human resources employee at Elkhorn Packing, the 35 farmworkers employed by the company received sick pay for their time in isolation. 

CAUSE and MICOP also called for Reiter to develop health and safety standards for farmworker housing and to adjust current housing to ensure workers can socially distance. 

Under the H-2A visa guidelines, employers must provide workers with housing, and a minimum of 50 square feet per person must be provided in sleeping quarters. This requirement has often led to shared accommodations and dorm-style housing for temporary agriculture workers on H-2A visas. Advocates say the Villa Las Brisas outbreak points at problems with this requirement. 

"That regulation is pre-COVID and wasn't set up for COVID, so beforehand, while Villa Las Brisas may have been complying with federal regulation, that doesn't necessarily mean it was addressing social distancing requirements for COVID," said Maricela Morales, executive director of CAUSE. 

Vargas also pointed to a potential problem with social distancing.

"The virus is transmitted from person to person and once one person was infected, it was just that social distancing didn't occur. We believe it was first community-transmitted to one person or a couple of people and then they transmitted it to the others," he said. 

Natalie Juarez of Oxnard Revolutionary Study says her group has been talking to workers through the fence at Villa Las Brisas. Oxnard Revolutionary Study held a protest Monday and marched from Villa Las Brisas to Reiter's office. 

According to Juarez, some workers have said that their employers are making them pay for their food while staying in isolation at Villa Las Brisas. 

Vargas says that it is his understanding that "food and other essential needs have all been provided at no cost for workers."

'What will be different moving forward?'

Morales says the outbreak shows the need for social distancing in farmworker housing and regular daily screenings for farmworkers.

"The response [to our statement] has been a defensiveness that comes up. We're not attacking anyone, whether it's the employer, secondary employer, the ag industry as a whole or public health. But when you know you are working with a vulnerable workforce, that requires you to be much more proactive and an investment of resources. We haven't seen that, and now we're seeing the results of that," she said. 

In an emailed statement Tuesday, Reiter said the company is enacting several new policies, including weekly meetings with farm labor contractors to review protocols and access to on-site testing. The company will also require farm labor contractors to submit their protocols on housing, transportation, COVID-19 and safety protocols for the fields. 

"If the employer does not have an established set of protocols, Villa Las Brisas will require they adopt our guidelines to their operations in order to secure housing with us," reads the statement.

Previous Story:Outbreak at Oxnard farmworker housing infects 95 so far

Reiter said the company's standards for farmworker housing were adapted following Cal-OSHA standards and in alignment with the state Department of Housing and Urban Development. The statement also notes that the company proactively prepared the facility for the pandemic with additional cleaning measures and social distancing protocols. 

For advocacy groups, the big question is whether these additional protocols will protect the county's essential workers. 

"Let's be clear, this is a very vulnerable population doing essential work and there is reason to be alarmed and concerned and to ask, what will be different moving forward?" said Morales. 

Erin Rode covers housing, real estate and development for The Star. Reach her at erin.rode@vcstar.com or 805-437-0312.