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Sleeping Within Six Feet: Challenging Oregon's Labor Housing COVID-19 Guidelines.
Accorsi, Emma K; Samples, Julie; McCauley, Linda A; Shadbeh, Nargess.
  • Accorsi EK; Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health , Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
  • Samples J; Oregon Law Center , Portland, Oregon, USA.
  • McCauley LA; Emory University Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing , Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
  • Shadbeh N; Oregon Law Center , Portland, Oregon, USA.
J Agromedicine ; 25(4): 413-416, 2020 Oct.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1174770
ABSTRACT
Facing the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and increasing outbreaks among farmworkers and food processing workers across the nation, the Oregon Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OR OSHA) issued temporary regulations, in contrast to optional recommendations, in late spring. These regulations aimed to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission among farmworkers, but made compromises that may fail to reduce the risk of further outbreaks among Oregon's agricultural workers, particularly those living in agricultural labor housing. Instead of considering the scientific literature that called for attention to space and length of time for social distancing among unrelated persons in indoor areas, the agency accepted the 6-foot social distancing rule of thumb and allowed even shorter distances between beds with the installation of plastic or plywood barriers. The 6-foot distance (or less with a barrier) between people sleeping next to each other in poorly ventilated housing has proved disastrous. Additionally, testing for migrant and seasonal farmworkers is neither uniform nor thorough, and little data have been collected to assess the success of existing testing efforts. New regulations must be adopted for farm labor housing that limit occupancy to at most two unrelated individuals for a room of 200 square feet; include expanded specification on the provision of fresh air in shared living spaces; and support increased access to testing, surveillance testing, and alternative safe housing at labor housing sites for identified cases.
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Full text: Available Collection: International databases Database: MEDLINE Main subject: Physical Distancing / COVID-19 / Housing Type of study: Observational study / Prognostic study Limits: Humans Country/Region as subject: North America Language: English Journal: J Agromedicine Journal subject: Occupational Medicine Year: 2020 Document Type: Article Affiliation country: 1059924X.2020.1815622

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Full text: Available Collection: International databases Database: MEDLINE Main subject: Physical Distancing / COVID-19 / Housing Type of study: Observational study / Prognostic study Limits: Humans Country/Region as subject: North America Language: English Journal: J Agromedicine Journal subject: Occupational Medicine Year: 2020 Document Type: Article Affiliation country: 1059924X.2020.1815622