Examining California farmworkers’ COVID-19 rates and risks

Researchers at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health and Dr. Maximiliano Cuevas had a discussion about the impact of COVID-19 on California farmworkers. California is the leading agricultural state in the U.S., generating more than $50 billion in agricultural annual revenue and employing 800,000 agricultural workers. Most farmworkers in California are Latino; they have been declared essential workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, and they ensure the continuity of the nation's food supply. At the same time, Latinos in the U.S. have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. A new study investigating the prevalence of and risk factors for COVID-19 among farmworkers in Monterey County confirms this nationwide trend: Latinos represent 59% of the population in Monterey, but 74% of the COVID-19 cases and 7% of the fatalities. The study - led by researchers at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health and Dr. Maximiliano Cuevas, the CEO of the  Clinica de Salud del Valle de Salinas  (CSVS) - asked these questions: Why are farmworkers getting COVID-19? And how can we prevent illness? Last week, the study's researchers released a white paper detailing their preliminary findings, which included data from 1,091 participants, and took part in a livestreamed Berkeley Conversations event. The team found that, although farmworkers did take COVID-19 seriously (91% of the initial study participants said it was a real threat; 24% said that COVID has had an extremely negative impact on their lives) and employers generally offered information about COVID-19 risks and implemented safety measures, employers had not been screening employees in the workplace.