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“But it also makes it easier to contain the situation when they almost all are living in one single place.”

Added Colby: “I really want to make sure that no one gets the idea that we should be blaming migrant workers for this,” noting they went through the mandated 14-day quarantine period upon arriving in Canada.

Greenhill has seven bunkhouses. Not all have been hit by the COVID-19 outbreak.

As of Monday night, 43 Greenhill employees – 41 migrant workers and two locals – had tested positive for the virus that’s shut down economies worldwide and upended working conditions.

Colby says “the investigation continues” but that “it’s looking more like it was a local worker that exposed migrant workers as opposed to the other way around.”

The dozens who’ve now tested positive are showing “mild” symptoms and are “all doing OK,” said the vice-president of the greenhouse, Justin Geertsema.

The outbreak escalated quickly over 12 hours beginning Sunday evening. Greenhills announced 11 migrant workers who’d been here between four and 18 months had tested positive. The Chatham Daily News soon learned the number was much higher – and it had almost quadrupled by midday Monday.

It’s unclear how long the other ill workers have been in Canada.

Greenhill, which grows red, yellow and orange bell peppers on its 125 acres of greenhouses, has contacted consular officials of the migrant workers’ home countries to advise them of the situation.

No Chatham-Kent residents with connections to Greenhill have tested positive, Colby has said.

As of Monday, there were 78 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Chatham-Kent, so the outbreak at Greenhill makes up more than 50 per cent of all local cases.