A 50 bed pop-up isolation facility has been created in Leamington to help battle COVID-19 outbreaks affecting agricultural workers.
The centre, provided by Bruce Power, is located at the Nature Fresh Farms Recreation Centre and includes beds, dividers, gloves, gowns and linens and is ready to be activated when needed.
Leamington mayor Hilda MacDonald says a place like this is needed.
"We have a number of hotels in the municipality as well as in the city on board for housing, but we are there ready, willing and able when the numbers get to the point that either the hotels can't handle them or we need another component."
She says it's nice to have another option to house workers.
"It's not a field hospital. We still have a field hospital available at St. Clair College, but right now we're just waiting to see if we need it. The pods are walls with a bed, a nice little spot for whoever to be spending their time if they can't work."
MacDonald says Bruce Power reached out to the town.
"They're just very aware of what's going on and they called down with this offer a couple of weeks ago. Then chief Bruce Krauter from EMS coordinated the effort calling in some employees and volunteers and they had the pods set up in fairly short order."
Since April 1, electricity company Bruce Power has provided more than 1.5-million pieces of personal protective equipment to health care, frontline and essential workers.
— with files from AM800's Kathie McMann and Rob Hindi