The Washington State Department of Health has contracted with Medical Teams International, a Seattle-based nonprofit, to test farmworkers as they arrive at their housing units from other communities, states or countries. The testing is free.

Early testing has shown low positive rates among arriving H-2A and domestic workers, according to Department of Health statistics. The first six weeks of testing incoming agricultural workers for COVID-19 found only 16 out of 5,138 workers tested positive, a rate of only 0.3 percent.

Employers, growers and housing operators interested in on-site testing should email Leslie Aaron, Medical Teams International COVID-19 clinic manager, at laaron@medicalteams.org.

—by Ross Courtney