農(nóng)場工人面臨著雙重威脅:野火煙霧和COVID-19

農(nóng)場工人面臨著雙重威脅:野火煙霧和COVID-19

Jesús Ahumada (left) oversees farm workers picking strawberries. He talks with Henry Gonzales, the Monterey County agricultural commissioner who secured more than 330,000 masks for farm workers there.

杰斯·阿烏馬達(dá)(左)監(jiān)督農(nóng)場工人摘草莓。他與蒙特雷縣農(nóng)業(yè)專員亨利·岡薩雷斯進(jìn)行了交談，岡薩雷斯為當(dāng)?shù)氐霓r(nóng)場工人爭取到了33萬多只口罩。

With precision, farm workers swiftly harvest rows of strawberries at an organic field in Salinas, Calif. It's hard work, even without a global pandemic and wildfires burning in the background.

在加利福尼亞州薩利納斯的一塊有機(jī)地里，農(nóng)場工人精準(zhǔn)地迅速收割成排的草莓。即使沒有全球范圍內(nèi)的流行病和野火的肆虐，這項(xiàng)工作還是很辛苦的。

Four major wildfires erupted across the state's Central Coast in mid-August, one near Salinas. Smoke blanketed the region, the sun glowed orange and ash rained down.

8月中旬，該州中部海岸爆發(fā)了四場主要的野火，其中一場在薩利納斯附近。煙霧籠罩著這個(gè)地區(qū)，太陽發(fā)出橘紅色的光芒，火山灰如雨般落下。

"It hurt our sinuses," said Jesús Ahumada, an agricultural foreman, in Spanish. "The smoke was so thick."

“它傷害了我們的鼻竇，”農(nóng)業(yè)工頭杰斯·阿烏馬達(dá)用西班牙語說。“煙太濃了。”

Ahumada leans up against his white pickup truck, which stands out against the green field. He supervises 65 farm workers. When the smoke was unbearable, they made a decision together to stop for their safety. They stopped for one day, Ahumada said.

阿烏馬達(dá)靠在他的白色皮卡車上，那輛卡車在綠色的田野上格外顯眼。他管理著65名農(nóng)場工人。當(dāng)煙霧無法忍受時(shí)，他們決定為了安全起見停下來。他們停了一天，阿烏馬達(dá)說。

That wasn't an easy call. Farm workers are paid at least minimum wage, but earn more money the more crates they fill.

這不是一個(gè)容易的決定。農(nóng)場工人至少能拿到最低工資，但裝的箱子越多，賺的錢就越多。

Dr. Caroline Kennedy, medical director of the Clinic Services Bureau at the Monterey County Health Department, says it's been one hardship after another for the people who harvest our food; first COVID-19, now wildfire. Kennedy directs nine clinics in a county where agriculture is a leading industry.

蒙特雷縣衛(wèi)生部門診所服務(wù)局的醫(yī)療主任卡羅琳·肯尼迪醫(yī)生說，為我們收割食物的人們已經(jīng)經(jīng)歷了一個(gè)又一個(gè)的困難;先是COVID-19，現(xiàn)在是野火?？夏岬显谝粋€(gè)以農(nóng)業(yè)為主導(dǎo)產(chǎn)業(yè)的縣管理著9個(gè)診所。

Monterey County is home to the Salinas Valley, which is called the "Salad Bowl of the World." Here, vast farm fields of lettuce, broccoli and strawberries feed the entire country.

蒙特雷縣是薩利納斯山谷的所在地，被稱為“世界沙拉碗”。在這里，種植著生菜、花椰菜和草莓的廣闊農(nóng)田養(yǎng)活了整個(gè)國家。

These farm workers, who are predominantly Latino, are disproportionately affected by the coronavirus. In Monterey County, more than 70 percent of COVID-19 cases are among Latinos.

這些以拉丁裔為主的農(nóng)場工人受到冠狀病毒感染的比例很高。在蒙特雷縣，70%以上的COVID-19病例來自拉丁美洲人。

Kennedy said housing is just one root cause, "Often, they go back to very congested living situations and everyone in the family is infected."

肯尼迪說，住房只是一個(gè)根本原因，“通常情況下，他們回到擁擠的居住環(huán)境，家庭中的每個(gè)人都受到感染。”

"Do you stay home when the air quality doesn't make you feel well, or do you just go back to work?" Kennedy said.

“當(dāng)空氣質(zhì)量讓你感覺不舒服的時(shí)候，你會(huì)呆在家里，還是直接回去工作?”肯尼迪說。

A year ago, California's Division of Occupational Safety and Health, or Cal/OSHA, implemented new standards for protecting outdoor workers from wildfire smoke. It requires employers to provide proper respiratory protection equipment, such as N-95 masks, when air quality is harmful. Whether or not use of a mask is voluntary or required depends on how bad the air quality is.

一年前，加州職業(yè)安全與健康部門(Cal/OSHA)實(shí)施了保護(hù)戶外工作人員不受野火煙霧影響的新標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。它要求雇主在空氣質(zhì)量有害時(shí)提供適當(dāng)?shù)暮粑雷o(hù)設(shè)備，如N-95口罩。使用口罩是自愿的還是必須的，取決于空氣質(zhì)量有多差。