- An outbreak of Covid-19 contamination among seasonal workers in western Bouches-du-Rhône was detected in early June.
- State services have struggled to quarantine these seasonal workers due to their often complicated accommodation conditions.
- Out of 258 workers tested positive, 124 are out of their quarantine.
The battle is not yet won. The prefect of Bouches-du-Rhône, Pierre Dartout, and the director of the Provence Alpes Côte d'Azur regional health agency, Philippe de Mester, took stock of the focus of Covid-19 contamination among workers seasonal workers from the west of the Bouches-du-Rhône department.
New contaminations are decreasing. Since the alert of the Arles hospital about the contamination in Covid-19 of three seasonal workers in the west of Bouches-du-Rhône at the beginning of June, 4,762 screening tests have been carried out, for 258 cases positive. "Among these 258 positive cases, 124 have passed the quarantine mark and are considered to be cured," said Philippe de Mester. 124 are still in quarantine. "At the start we were at a positivity rate of 8 to 9%, today we are rather around 5%", said Pierre Dartout. Christine Ortmans, head of the ARS health monitoring unit in Bouches-du-Rhône confirms, "the numbers of new cases are decreasing significantly". But all warned: "We remain vigilant, the battle is not yet won".
Difficulties in quarantine. Most of the seasonal workers screened are posted workers from Spain. They are often housed directly on farms, or by the service provider who brought them in. From where difficulties of quarantine in these conditions of Spartan accommodation. "I took 150 orders prohibiting them from leaving their accommodation, except for compelling reasons such as food shopping," announced prefect Dartout. State services have in particular approached farmers, service providers and the Red Cross to guarantee food supplies for people in quarantine.
#Coronavirus: 354 cases in the agricultural zones of #Provence, immersion in the largest cluster in France
➡️ https://t.co/9RBycn1fHq pic.twitter.com/4hNSjPRKhA
Faced with the overcrowding of certain accommodations, the Miramas town hall made available an accommodation site, and the prefect of Bouches-du-Rhône also requisitioned a hotel. “The hosting obligation falls first to the service provider, then to the operator. The State services have put a place of accommodation for seasonal workers for drinking water supply works, but also to reduce the reception capacity of this site. Other checks have followed on the closing of bungalows and other checks will take place, ”warned Pierre Dartout. “Speeches of empowerment” from the agricultural world took place with operators and service providers who “were not up to the task”, even if the prefect did not want to “cast reproach on this profession”. Terra Fecundis is particularly on the authorities' radar. The public prosecutor was also seized for "unworthy accommodation".
A beginning of contamination probably before deconfinement. "Case zero is probably before deconfinement since many positive cases were detected in the first week of alert, which makes us think that the virus had already been circulating for several weeks," said Christine Ortmans. The possibility of a person carrying the virus illegally entering French territory during the period of confinement is not excluded. "Procedures can be deepened," warned Pierre Dartout. “During the first screenings we realized that the majority of the cases were concentrated in workers of Terra Fecundis. These workers could work on several farms and were mixed every day, ”said Christine Ortmans. According to the prefect Pierre Dartout, this situation should "lead to a fundamental reflection" on the model of seasonal posted workers in agriculture, "once the contamination is contained".
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