The Windsor-Essex County medical officer of health says a "lack of understanding" is the biggest challenge when dealing with COVID-19 in the agri-farm sector.
COVID-19 numbers in the migrant worker population continue to rise throughout Essex County.
Dr. Wajid Ahmed spent more than an hour discussing the issue at the health unit's board of directors meeting Thursday night.
Dr. Ahmed says preventative measures are simply not being taken.
"There are some compliance issues with these workers, not necessarily understanding the importance of self-isolation and the importance of limiting their number of contacts, even when they're under self-isolation," he says.
Ahmed says one strategy is to bring the infected to one place.
"What we were thinking of putting forward is looking for a facility that can be retrofitted into something that can accommodate these individuals in one setting and that would allow us to control these concerns," he says.
Ahmed says using one location instead of several scattered throughout the county would make things easier.
"Insuring that these people are following and are in compliance with the self-isolation rules; if there's any food or other deliveries that need to happen it can easily be done there and last, but not least, if there's any health assessment that is needed in this population that can be easily addressed," he added.
As of Thursday, 346 of the confirmed COVID-19 cases in the region have been traced back to farm workers.
Dr. Ahmed says 169 cases at eight different farms in Essex County remain active.