A greenhouse sits behind fencing at Kapital Produce near Leamington, Ont., on June 12, 2020.Fred Lum
The mayor of Windsor, Ont., is calling on farmers in the surrounding area to have all of their workers tested for COVID-19.
Drew Dilkens said the high rates of the virus on farms in Essex County has held back the entire region from reopening. He said if farmers take the lead on testing, they can help the region “assess and contain” the spread of the virus and reopen the local economy.
Premier Doug Ford announced Monday that Windsor-Essex would not yet proceed to Stage 2 of reopening because of the farm outbreaks.
Mr. Ford warned farmers that he would take “extreme” action if they did not co-operate with the province’s plan to test workers, though he gave no specifics.
Hundreds of migrant workers in the region have tested positive for the virus and three have died.
Ontario reported 216 new cases on Tuesday and 10 more deaths. It’s the highest number of daily new cases in 10 days, but Health Minister Christine Elliott said it’s too early to draw any conclusions.
Tuesday’s new cases bring the provincial total to 33,853 – an increase of 0.6 per cent over the previous day – including 2,619 deaths and 29,107 resolved cases.
There were 174 more resolved cases Tuesday than the previous day, breaking a consistent trend of resolved cases growing more quickly than active ones.
Tuesday also marks the lowest number of completed tests in two weeks, with 16,189.
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