Essex County looks to take over operation of COVID-19 isolation site
CBC
Essex County is looking to take over operation of the COVID-19 isolation and recovery centre (IRC) for migrant workers from the City of Windsor.
At a meeting of County Council on Monday, councillors unanimously passed a resolution in favour of seeking federal funding and take any other necessary steps to operate the centre.
Bruce Krauter, chief of Essex-Windsor Emergency Medical Services — one of the partners involved in the program— said more than 1,200 workers have been accommodated since 2020.
A report to council said the COVID-19 isolation and recovery centre is "required" and the need should continue into 2023, even though the facility is not currently occupied.
"Although the majority of the workers have originated from the areas of Kingsville and Leamington, the international agri-food worker impacts all areas of Windsor and Essex County. From farms to greenhouses, from processing plants to residences, each municipality, town or city is touched by this population," the report stated.
The report says that the facility would not require municipal funding to operate. The Public Health Agency of Canada has made funding available until the end of March 2023.
The City of Windsor has operated the program since the summer of 2020, when the COVID-19 crisis hit migrant worker populations.
The city announced in February that it intended to transition out of running the program by July, and other municipalities or agriculture groups would have to apply for funding to continue the operation of the program.
About 10,000 workers come to Windsor-Essex each year to work in farms and greenhouses.
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