Wellness Center brings COVID-19 testing to valley farmworkers
EL CENTRO, Calif. (KYMA, KECY) - Calexico's Wellness Center continues to take the initiative by testing as many farmworkers as possible for COVID-19 in the Imperial County.
They are launching "COVID sin, Frontera." They will be providing Farmworkers with Personal Protective equipment and also attempting to test them as often as they can
“One thing is giving the masks providing information, education but when they go home how does take care of the families they might get infected at home so we’re trying to provide a way that we can tap into that resource and follow up,” said Javier Moreno, President of Board of Directors of Calexico Wellness Center.
Farmworkers have been more susceptible to contracting the virus.
Moreno added, “they’re more likely to catch COVID-19 than the regular workers in other industries because lack of documentation, inadequate protection by employers and they’re technology illiterate so coupled with that they don’t know, and we find they are vulnerable to the disease.”
Moreno also says that even the act of crossing the border physically for work makes them more susceptible to contracting the disease.
“Anybody that lives by the border, anybody from Mexicali or Calexico they wrap up their inspections and they don’t social distance despite the coronavirus they’ve been doing it for years and years so imagine right now with the coronavirus some of those farmworkers are asymptomatic and they don’t even know that's why it's important we get them at the border,” he said.
