Emergency temporary standards and COVID-19 trends among Oregon farmworkers.
<h4>Background</h4>During the COVID-19 pandemic, migrant and seasonal farmworkers were deemed essential due to their central roles in US agricultural operations. However, employer-provided housing and transportation conditions increased their risks of SARS-CoV-2 exposure, and some states...
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2025-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0329130 |
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| _version_ | 1849228219677409280 |
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| author | Raul Cruz-Cano Devon C Payne-Sturges |
| author_facet | Raul Cruz-Cano Devon C Payne-Sturges |
| author_sort | Raul Cruz-Cano |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <h4>Background</h4>During the COVID-19 pandemic, migrant and seasonal farmworkers were deemed essential due to their central roles in US agricultural operations. However, employer-provided housing and transportation conditions increased their risks of SARS-CoV-2 exposure, and some states implemented emergency temporary standards (ETSs) at the insistence of farmworker advocates. Despite numerous studies examining the effectiveness of policy interventions (e.g., workplace closures) for mitigating SARS-CoV-2 transmission, limited research has specifically examined the effectiveness of interventions aimed at protecting farmworkers from COVID-19.<h4>Methods</h4>We used an interrupted time series analysis to estimate how two ETSs and one executive order issued in Oregon impacted COVID-19 trends from March 1, 2020, to February 27, 2021, for the overall population and among agricultural labor groups in Oregon.<h4>Results</h4>Our models show that the ETS and executive order, which specifically targeted farmworker housing, transportation, and worksites, did not demonstrate any significant effects on the numbers of COVID-19 cases or associated deaths. However, the other ETS, which targeted all workplaces, was associated with statistically significant decreases in COVID-19 cases among the general population (-142.36214, p-value<0.0001), producers (-1.67128, p-value = 0.0009), hired workers (-2.39413, p-value = 0.0014), unpaid workers (-1.01572, p-value = 0.0003), and migrant workers (-0.60017, p-value = 0.0166). None of the three policy changes were found to have any statistically significant impacts on the numbers of COVID-19-associated deaths.<h4>Conclusions</h4>The ETS targeting all workplaces was more effective for reducing COVID-19 transmission than the ETS or executive order specifically targeting farmworkers, indicating that the design, communication, and implementation of ETSs targeting farmworkers should be re-evaluated. |
| format | Article |
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| institution | Kabale University |
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| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
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| spelling | doaj-art-4e2ca97135fb4787a6071f0d2157166b2025-08-23T05:31:54ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032025-01-01208e032913010.1371/journal.pone.0329130Emergency temporary standards and COVID-19 trends among Oregon farmworkers.Raul Cruz-CanoDevon C Payne-Sturges<h4>Background</h4>During the COVID-19 pandemic, migrant and seasonal farmworkers were deemed essential due to their central roles in US agricultural operations. However, employer-provided housing and transportation conditions increased their risks of SARS-CoV-2 exposure, and some states implemented emergency temporary standards (ETSs) at the insistence of farmworker advocates. Despite numerous studies examining the effectiveness of policy interventions (e.g., workplace closures) for mitigating SARS-CoV-2 transmission, limited research has specifically examined the effectiveness of interventions aimed at protecting farmworkers from COVID-19.<h4>Methods</h4>We used an interrupted time series analysis to estimate how two ETSs and one executive order issued in Oregon impacted COVID-19 trends from March 1, 2020, to February 27, 2021, for the overall population and among agricultural labor groups in Oregon.<h4>Results</h4>Our models show that the ETS and executive order, which specifically targeted farmworker housing, transportation, and worksites, did not demonstrate any significant effects on the numbers of COVID-19 cases or associated deaths. However, the other ETS, which targeted all workplaces, was associated with statistically significant decreases in COVID-19 cases among the general population (-142.36214, p-value<0.0001), producers (-1.67128, p-value = 0.0009), hired workers (-2.39413, p-value = 0.0014), unpaid workers (-1.01572, p-value = 0.0003), and migrant workers (-0.60017, p-value = 0.0166). None of the three policy changes were found to have any statistically significant impacts on the numbers of COVID-19-associated deaths.<h4>Conclusions</h4>The ETS targeting all workplaces was more effective for reducing COVID-19 transmission than the ETS or executive order specifically targeting farmworkers, indicating that the design, communication, and implementation of ETSs targeting farmworkers should be re-evaluated.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0329130 |
| spellingShingle | Raul Cruz-Cano Devon C Payne-Sturges Emergency temporary standards and COVID-19 trends among Oregon farmworkers. PLoS ONE |
| title | Emergency temporary standards and COVID-19 trends among Oregon farmworkers. |
| title_full | Emergency temporary standards and COVID-19 trends among Oregon farmworkers. |
| title_fullStr | Emergency temporary standards and COVID-19 trends among Oregon farmworkers. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Emergency temporary standards and COVID-19 trends among Oregon farmworkers. |
| title_short | Emergency temporary standards and COVID-19 trends among Oregon farmworkers. |
| title_sort | emergency temporary standards and covid 19 trends among oregon farmworkers |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0329130 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT raulcruzcano emergencytemporarystandardsandcovid19trendsamongoregonfarmworkers AT devoncpaynesturges emergencytemporarystandardsandcovid19trendsamongoregonfarmworkers |