Hendry County seeing a rise in COVID-19 driven by farm workers

Hendry County seeing a rise in COVID-19 driven by farm workers

DEATHS.HENDRY- 675 CASES AND 21 DEATHS.GLADES- 119 CASES AND ONE DEATH.COVID-19 CASES ARE GROWING THEFASTEST RIGHT NOW IN FARMINGCOMMUNITIES HERE IN SOUTHWESTFLORIDA.BUT SOME OF THE COUNTIES DON’THAVE A LOT OF RESOURCES TO FIGHTTHE SPREAD, SO THE HEALTHDEPARTMENT IS STEPPING IN.FOX 4’S ROB MANCH IS IN HENDRYCOUNTY TONIGHT.HE SPOKE WITH THE HEALTHDEPARTMENT THERE ABOUT THERESPONSE.(:31 - :36)INTRO:There are now more than 670positive cases here in HendryCounty.Most of those were just recordedwithin the last month.And the Health Department tellsme the heart of the outbreak hasbeen with migrant farm workers.PKG:Joseph Pepe with the healthdepartment tells me the issuehas been that farm workers havealmost no way of socialdistancing at work or at home.Joseph Pepe, Hendry Departmentof Health:"We had one facility that hadover 100 cases."When an outbreak like thathappens in a rural county, thehealth department has to stepin.Joseph Pepe, Hendry Departmentof Health:"We’re doing our best.

It’sextremely difficult as you canimagine to have a rapidlygrowing amount of cases likethat to get your arms aroundit."But less than an hours driveaway in Lee County, it’s adifferent story.They got 135 million dollarsfrom the federal governmentthrough the CARES Act, whichhelped them purchase personalprotective equipment for theirstaff and to give away tobusinesses.Here in Hendry, the fundinghasn’t come yet, so it’s up tothe DOH."We’ve been pushing out masksto help reduce the viralpresence in the community.

Ithink we’re up over 30 thousandmasks we’ve pushed out already."Pepe says all of these measuresare especially important here,because the harvest season isover, and farm workers aremoving north."We’ve been testing to makesure that we’re not exportingCOVID to other states."TAG:And Pepe also tells me hisbiggest concern is when allthose farm workers come back forthe harvest season in the fall.He says the health department isworking to make sure they have ascreening process in place bythat time to make sure peoplecoming back into the count