Abstract
Migrant and seasonal farmworkers, who are essential workers in the coronavirus global public health emergency, face unique risks to their health as well as longstanding health inequities. This commentary highlights these risks and argues that Internet access represents an underappreciated but critical part of the public health response. The authors first discuss the unique risks farmworkers face. We note the importance of Internet access in the time of physical distancing, the fact that many health outreach workers are no longer visiting camps, the need for telemedicine infrastructure, and the role of Internet access in providing connections to families in communities of origin. We describe existing efforts that have been implemented in North Carolina to raise awareness among public health and health promotion practitioners and researchers. The current coronavirus pandemic demands the attention of medical libraries, public health practitioners, and policy makers to address the digital divide for farmworkers and their families.
Highlights
PARTICULAR RISKS FOR MIGRANT AND SEASONAL FARMWORKERSFarmworkers’ living and working conditions may make it impossible for them to adhere to physical distancing guidelines, given existing minimum standards
Migrant and seasonal farmworkers, who are essential workers in the coronavirus global public health emergency, face unique risks to their health as well as longstanding health inequities
Continue to be on the job, and, as Paul Farmer warned in Infections and Inequalities: The Modern Plagues [1], the consequences of existing structural inequalities are beginning to manifest in higher rates of infection and death for those with fewer resources [2]
Summary
Farmworkers’ living and working conditions may make it impossible for them to adhere to physical distancing guidelines, given existing minimum standards. Many workers, who arrive from Mexico on H2A Temporary Agricultural Workers visas or with a crew of migrant workers from another state in the United States, spend long hours together on a bus. Protections are limited: Beds in employer-provided migrant housing must be placed a minimum of three feet apart. In shared kitchens and bathrooms, one sink must be available for every six people, one stove for every ten, and one toilet for every fifteen [7]. These limited protections can make it difficult for farmworkers to comply with health recommendations.
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