{"id":55512,"date":"2022-12-22T16:21:10","date_gmt":"2022-12-23T00:21:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=55512"},"modified":"2022-12-22T16:21:10","modified_gmt":"2022-12-23T00:21:10","slug":"farmworkers-still-exposed-to-highest-infection-rates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=55512","title":{"rendered":"Farmworkers Still Exposed to Highest Infection Rates"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By<\/span>Peter Schurmann<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Experts warn against\u00a0<\/em>normalizing Covid.<\/em><\/h2>\n

Drive almost anywhere in the farm fields of California and you will see blurred shapes on the horizon, men and women who produce the majority of the country\u2019s food. Although recognized as essential workers, their work has exposed and continues to expose them to the most severe impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew going to farmworkers was essential, but we never felt it until we struggled (with COVID-19) in 2020,\u201d said Dr. Ilan Shapiro, Chief Health Correspondent and Medical Affairs Officer at AltaMed. \u201cWhen most communities were at home, they were out there making sure we can feed our families. And they were getting exposed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shapiro joined a panel of speakers Wednesday during an\u00a0online briefing organized by EMS and the California Department of Public Health\u2019s VaccinateAll58 Campaign<\/a>\u00a0looking at how the pandemic continues to impact agricultural workers in the state and the lessons learned in closing gaps to healthcare access for this population.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, our communities need information,\u201d Shapiro stressed.<\/p>\n

State health leaders urge residents to stay up to date on their flu and COVID-19
\nvaccines, as they are the best defense to limit severe illness and death, particularly in
\nheavily impacted communities. Californians are also encouraged to stay home when
\nfeeling ill in order to avoid close contact and protect those around you from illness as
\nrespiratory viruses continue to circulate. Wearing masking, covering coughs and
\nsneezes and practicing hand washing are also instrumental in preventing the spread of
\ngerms and illness.<\/p>\n

Shapiro noted that during the pandemic, California made enormous strides in reaching farmworker communities around the state. \u201cCOVID-19 opened a lot of conversations,\u201d he said. The key now is to continue distributing this information to these groups in the languages and cultures they understand.<\/p>\n

More than 800 thousand people work on California\u2019s farms and packing facilities, the vast majority of whom are migrant laborers from Mexico and Central America. An estimated two-thirds are undocumented. Many come from Indigenous communities in Mexico where Spanish is often rudimentary or non-existent.<\/p>\n

All these factors contribute to the enormous challenges that exist in ensuring farmworkers have equitable access to healthcare. And as new variants emerge, and winter infection rates rise, Shapiro warns against the prevalence of misinformation and a diminishing sense of urgency around getting vaccinated.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to make sure the gaps in these social determinants of health are closed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Updating the data on farmworker health<\/h2>\n

Noe Paramo is director of the Sustainable Rural Communities Project at the California Rural Legal Assistance (CRLA) Foundation, which has long advocated for expanded healthcare access for California\u2019s farmworkers.<\/p>\n

His organization is currently working with UC Merced and State Senator Anna Caballero on updating farmworker health data, now over two decades old. That updated information, which will be made available early next year, will be used to shape forthcoming healthcare policy, including the proposed expansion of Medi-Cal for low-income people in the state between 26-49 years of age, regardless of immigration status.<\/p>\n

Paramo says it\u2019s likely that up to 40% of farmworkers\u00a0will not be eligible<\/a>, because their incomes will supersede the cut off for eligibility. \u201cThat is the objective of the study,\u201d he said, to highlight policy options that can narrow this looming gap in coverage.<\/p>\n

CRLA also partnered with\u00a0UC Davis\u2019 \u00d3rale Project<\/a>, which found that more than half of farmworkers never received treatment even when infected with the virus. A\u00a02020 UC Berkeley study<\/a>\u00a0also found that 58% of farmworkers still went to work even when showing symptoms.<\/p>\n

There are a host of reasons for these figures, ranging from a lack of medical insurance to mistrust of the medical system and fears of lost wages or outing of their immigration status. But the dearth of medically trained professionals in rural parts of the state is also a contributing factor.<\/p>\n

Shapiro noted that under the stressors of the pandemic\u2014long hours and risk factors associated with the work\u2014many health care practitioners left the field, leaving especially rural areas facing a growing shortage.<\/p>\n

A\u00a0new law<\/a>, set to take effect next year that will allow doctors in California to qualify for student debt forgiveness, aims to narrow that gap.<\/p>\n

And while Paramo praised California for its success in expanding health care access to more and more of the population, he said the challenge now is to see whether \u201cwe implement it for the most marginalized.\u201d<\/p>\n

That is especially the case among farmworkers, said Ed Kissam, a member of the National Center for Farmworker Health Advisory Committee to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/p>\n

Our progress nationally is really worrisome<\/h2>\n

\u201cOur progress nationally is really worrisome, with only 14% of eligible people having gotten the up-to-date vaccines,\u201d he said. That number falls to just 5-6% in California\u2019s agricultural communities, putting those with underlying health conditions, along with the elderly and pregnant women at greater risk.<\/p>\n

Kissam commended the\u00a0Test to Treat approach<\/a>, now being implemented by the University of California targeting farmworker communities.<\/p>\n

The idea is to test workers as soon as they show signs of infection, and then to connect them to treatment as soon as possible, including access to anti-viral medicines like Paxlovid, which have been shown to reduce serious illness but must be administered within five days of showing symptoms.<\/p>\n

Every household in the U.S. is eligible for another round of free test kits. Visit\u00a0www.covid.gov\/tests<\/a>\u00a0or call 1-800-232-0233 to order yours. You can also book a free test appointment, find a walk-in test clinic or buy a self-test kit from your local drugstore. Visit\u00a0www.covid19.ca.gov<\/a>\u00a0to learn more.<\/p>\n

What is clear is that the state has learned some valuable lessons from the pandemic, including the importance of working with\u00a0promotoras<\/em>\u00a0to connect with vulnerable populations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere has been more willingness to work with CBOs that have a\u00a0promotora<\/em>\u00a0model,\u201d as a result of the pandemic, said Arsenio L\u00f3pez, Executive Director of Mixteco\/Indigena Community Organizing Project in Ventura County (MICOP). \u201cThey have been the champions for access and education for hard-to-reach populations.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of L\u00f3pez\u2019 key concerns is the issue of language access, as many Indigenous farmworkers speak little to no Spanish.\u00a0Mental health also tops his list<\/a>. \u201cMany families lost loved ones, and there is an increase of anxiety, stress,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

And like Shapiro, L\u00f3pez described a community where, even as infections again begin to climb, lingering distrust,\u00a0fear and misinformation<\/a>\u00a0are combining with an increased sense of laxity around the virus.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am worried COVID-19 is becoming normalized,\u201d he said. \u201cMy worry is that there is this increase in positive cases while there is no sense of urgency as there was previously.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ByPeter Schurmann Dec 22, 2022 Experts...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-55512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ca-local","category-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=55512"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55512\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55513,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55512\/revisions\/55513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=55512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=55512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=55512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}