>> 31 employees of a local farm company have been infected by the coronavirus. >> i think the average american has no concept of how food reaches our table. i think there's a huge disconnect with those of us with shelter in place. >> narrator: from the farms... >> i started getting th eaded. i couldn't really breathe. >> narrator: to the factories. >> they don't show up back w k they would be getting fired. >> narrator: correspondent daffodil altan investigates the risk essential workers take to provide america's food supply. >> how big is this problem?ck >> just in meat g alone, over 14,000 of our members have been exposed or contracted

covid-19. e. 14,000 peo >> narrator: and what can be done to minimize their risk? >> the trump administration could do this now. under the osha law the ssfederal government can i an emergency regulation. they can do that tomorrow, saying employers must protect workers from covid-19. >> narrator: now on frontline-n' >> it doesfeel like we're essential, it feels like we'resl es. >> narrator: "covid's hidden toll". >> frontline is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. and by the corporation for major support is provi the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation, committed to building a more just, verdant and peeful world.at the ford foun: working with visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide. additional support is provided by the abrams foundation,te commto excellence in journalism. the park foundation,te dedicated to heing public awareness of critical issues. the john and helen glessner family trust. t

supportistworthy journalism that informs and inspires. and bye he frontlurnalism fund, with major support from jon and jo ann hagler. support for "covid'sidden toll" is provided by wnet'sea chasing the initiative on poverty and opportunity in america. with fundi by the jpb foundation. ♪ >> sinthia (in spanish):

>> sinthia: (phone dialing out)

>> sinthia: >> man (on phone in spanish): >> sinthia: >> man: >> sinthia: man (on phone): (sthia speaking spanish) >> sinthia: er (pn whistling) >> sinthia:

(sinthia speaking spanish) >> sinthia: ♪ >> millions of farm workers wstill in the fields across the nation. >> ...agricultural workers testing positive for covid-19 is on the rise. >> at least 10,000 meatpacking workers across the country have been infected. >> often facing crowded andta unsani conditions. >> with little or no protective gear, their lives, and the nation food supply, are at risk. ♪ n: >> daffodil alta as millions of americans were sheltering in place over the past months, we begalooking at the toll the

coronavirus was taking on those who cannot stay home. them undocumented-- who wereof deemed essential to the nation's fo supply. i've been reporting in this community for years, and as the annual harvest was starting in california ts spring, i was hearing from workers who were daily having to choose between eir jobs and their healt >> sinthia: >> altan: sinthia hernandez is one of the few workers out of dozens we spoke to who aeed to gon camera. she's a broccoli picker in the salinas valley, a region inca fornia that produces most of the country's leafy greens.

in addition to having cancer, sinthia has diabetes-- both of which put her at high risk foron complicas if she contracts covid-19. >> sinthia: (calls out in spanish) >> altan: she works for a contractor that supplies workers to farms in the area. she told me she's expected toma bring her own sk to work. >> sinthia: >> altan: when we met sinthia in april, there were no required covid protections foror farmrs beyond general rules about masks and social distancing. even now, companies don't haveer to tell woabout outbreaks. >> sinthia:

>> if one farmworker gets sick, you're going to get a crew, sick. is typically 30 people, and if each of those people goes out, they're going to get threef r other people, because that's the infection rate. and so the thing snowballs. (birds chirping)d >> grning. >> good morning! >> altan: dr. max cuevas runs a network of clinics in the salinas valley that primary serves farm workers. >> and so with my staff, i toldw thneed to plan. with wtever little resources t we have, we neplan to make sure that those resources are in fact available. so we thought, "let's jump in and let's begin making masks." ♪ >> altan: just before dawn, dr. cuevas' team was meeting workers as they caught rides to the fields. >> social worker (in spanish):

>> man: >> social worker: ay. >> woman: >> social worker: >> when our state d federal governments annoced that the farmworker was a part of the luessential workforce, incd with healthcare, first responders, poli, that's not your middle-class essential worker that people are talking about.th is essential worker, a lot of them do in fact live in fear.op they don't want pe to know that they're here undocumented. there's that fear of, "i couldf be gone tomorrowm taken away. ano what's going to happen tmy family?" it's a horrible kind of fear that people learn to live with.

you try to assure them that, "don't be afraid of that one righnow. be afraid of the virus." ♪ >> altan: by mid-april, the firsencases of covid-19 had be identified in the salinaser valley, and thwere increasing fears about it spreading among farm workers ans their fami >> rosa: >> altan: it was around this time that we met rosa orellana, a truck driver who was worried about what might happen in her family of produce workers. >> rosa:

>> altan: rosa's cousins were living with her family and working for a large grower called tanimura & antle. one of her cousins, mar, said that although the company gave em masks and gloves, it was still diffult to do the work and not get close. >> osmar: >> rosa:

>> osmar: >> altan: osmar says he heard his crew had tested positiven for covid-19, but his supervisors wereot giving them any information about what was happening. >> osmar: >> altan: without information, his crew collectively decidedk,

to stop workg. osmar went home to self-quarantine, but he waswi already coming dow symptoms. ♪ >> rosa: >> osmar: >> altan: osmar nt to get tested along with his wife andhe br who also worked at the company. sm >>ar:

>> altan: several otherke co-w also tested positive. they were among the first farm workers in monterey countyi to bnosed with covid-19. >> rosa: >> altan: during this ti, we were hearing that there were dozens of cases at tanimura & antle. so we wanted to talk to the company about the infeions and what they were doing to protect

workers. but they did not respond to ourt repe requests for an interview. p >> localduce giant tanimura & antle confirmed one of their employees have tested positive for covid-. >> altan: the companpublicly confirmed only one covid case, and said they had sent those ino act withhe sick worker home with id leave. when we asked local heal officials in monterey county to confm the numb, they said they do not release informatn about infections at specificmp coies. we received milar responses from other counties in the state. in fact, it was hard to find much information at all about e overall number of farm workers getting sick. >> i believeocal governments, i believe counties-- especially ag-based counties-- should be releasing any and l data related to infections, outbaks, because without tha information, it's nearly impossible to y to get this virus under control. >> altan: california assemblyer meobert rivas grew up in

farmworker housing, and his strict includes the salinas valley. (children speaking spanish) he told me that en the little data that is available about who is getting sick ints to a disproportionate toll in the farmworker community. >> latinos make up 39%, almost 40% of the statewide population. >> altan: but they now account for more than half of all covid cases in california. >> and so certainly that is well above the representation of latinos statewide. and so trying to understand, you know, how this is imcting our farmworker communities is, is incredibly impor. >> altan: and that's been a growing concern in agricultural communities experiencing outbreaks across the country. >> 31 employees of a local farmn company have bn ed b >> southern valley says 100%f the employees at henderson farm >> scott's strawberry & tomato farm shut down after more than

two dozen of its employees tested positive for covid-19. >> this is a once-in-a-century pandemic. and our rkers, they deserve to have laws in place that are going to reflect these incredible challenges that we fa. our laws need to reflect this new reality. and mething like disclosing potential outbreaks on the worksite needs to become the standard in our statand reallyur inountry. ♪ >> altan: agriculturalorkers in the u.s.-- especially the undocumented-- have long been ong the most eloited a the lowest-paid.re in our years orting on farm workers, we've found abuses involving children who have been forced to work against their will a women who have been sexually assaulted on the job. as the pandemic was taking hold, we heard from one of ourma longtime sourcescruz

ladino, a farmworker in salinas who we first met seven years ago, when she shared her story of being sexually assaulted by a supervisor. (in spanish): >> maricruz: >> altan: she's now a dispatcher for a large lettuce grower, and has become an advocate for farm workers by volunteering at a legal aid ganization. (in spanish): >> maricruz:

♪ >> sinthia: (dishware clinking)

altan: as infections we climbingn monterey county, sinthia hernandez told me she was worried about family members who, like her, also have underlying conditions. >> sinthia:r: >> sinthia's mot >> sinthia: th >> s's mother: >> sinthia:

>> sinthia:

♪ >> altan: while the ronavirus was taking hd in the fields, it was already racing through food processing plants across the nation. >> the coronavirus pandemic is closing down meatpacking facilities across the country. >> at least 22 meat processing plants already shut down in this country. >> altan: we heard about a growing outbreak a few hours from salinas at one of the biggest meat processors in the u.s. >> the central valley meat, company in hanfoat's about 30 miles... >> altan: central valley meat employs around 700 people at its plant in kings county. e company has a history violating health andafety codes and has been cited for animal abuses, as seen in this undercover footage. in the last decade, it's had two beef recalls and been shut down threeimes.

when the virus appeared at the plant in april, workers told us g to protect them.company didth >> when it started, they denied everything. there was people getting suspended for showing up with a face mask. a couple of people were actually coughing, and they wore the mask just because they were coughing, and they got sent home. theysed the phrase, "y scaring the employees. your co-workers." >> management will say that it's just rumors that someone had posted on social media. >> a lot of people started missing and then they started a calling th threatening them about their jobs.if hey don't show up to go back to work, they would be gting fired.an >> altthese two employees spokto us on the condition that we not disclose their identities, because they were afraid of losing their jobs. >> in the central valley, at least 138 employees tested positive for covid9 at a... >> altan: they said it wasn't until the outbreak made the local news that the company

began to implement safety measures. >> after everything ca out on the news, everybody was, like, kind of panicking. >> after the outbreak,hey started separating us in, um, different tables, art. and then they were providing us with facmasks because most of us were complaining. we were, like, "we need to protecourselves." >> altan: according to therk s, more people kept showing up sick every day. i >> people were goisick, fever, throwing up, coughing. they asked you at the gate, "do you have any of these symptoms?" you tell him, "yes," okay, u can go right down and ahead and work. it's, like, "shouldn't i go home?" "nah, just go ahead and go and work." >> altan: they worked inside a planthey say looked similar to this one, and that even as the virus spread, the pressurep to kee production continued. >> we still see people who had came back who are coughing and sneezing. they don't even cover their mouths, because, you know,ey

the moving constantly, because the line's, you kn, running fast. and some of them, when they sneeze, e paper towels are some of them, they juspe it off on their face mask or on their ock. >> altan: central valley meat declined our repeated requests to discuss the outbreak. but the company has publicly denied threatening to fire workers or punishing them for being t sick. in late april, the company sent a note to employees comparing the outbreak to a normal flu season, and saying that "the coronavirus is not some cloud floating around waing to infect someone," and assured employees that nightly cleaning s killing any potential virus residue. >> early oin the pandemic outbreak inside plants, it was chaos, it was fear, it was anxiy. >> altan: i reached out to union leader mark lauritsen, who'd been monitoring outbreaks inth plants arouncountry. >> nobody knew exactly what thed

weling with, and that just led to, if you were a worker in a meatpacking ant looking for answers, those answers were hard to come by early on in this pandemic. >> altan: so how, how big is this problem? >> just in meatpacking alone in the united states, over 14,000 h of our membee been exposed or contracted covid-19 because of their proximity to work-- 14,000 people. and those are just our memrs. so you have to, if you look across the entire industry, number that's substantg at a higher than that. and when you have 14,000 of our members that are, are exposed's and sick, th tremendous stress on the efficiency of the hiole food supply chain in country. and quite honestly, if we want to protect our food supply chain in this country, let's protectos workers. >> mr. president, on the food supply chain... >> altan: in late april, largeak outbwere forcing plants around the country to close down, until the president signed an executive order that prompted companies to stay opent

>> we're goisign an executive order today, i believe, and that'll solve any liability problems. >> when the president said that the, they weren't gonna be closing the meat plants down, everybody got upset, because we wereust getting ready to close, at least th's what they were telling us. >> altan: both of these central valley meat employees told us that they tested positive for covid-19. >> i started getting lightheade my body just. started aching nsi felt really hot from ie. my chest startinto hurt. i couldn't really breathe. i to my management, i asked them if i could leave. and then, they were not going to let me go. they said that if you want to get tested, you will have to go on your own time.ou we thought it be theb company's joto take care of us, you know, the workers.

>> altan: by early may, local health officials began testingrk s onsite. >> i know a lot of the people that are sick. some work next to me. some i see at the break room. i'll see them in the restrooms. yesterday, a co-worker showed up to work and she was coughing. she told us that she was threatened with her job if she didn't show up to work. >> altan: production at the plant never stopped, even as the community around itpe deveone of the fastest infection growth rates in the country. >> no, the company never closed. they didn't even shut wn for, not even a day. even though if it was 40 peoplen wo we were still killing cows and still working. >> every day we go to work, we're thinking about thena corus, if we're gonna catch it again. who's gonna catch it? is it on the walls? is it on the product?

is it on the equipment we use? >> up till today, i'm stillgo g to work, even though i'm positive right now. >> it doesn't feel like we're essential workers, it feels like we're aves. >> altan: nearly 200 workers at the company have tested positive for covid-19, making it one of the largest outbres in the state. and around the country, it's estimated that at least 35,000 meatpacking workers have been infected, with more than 100 deaths. ate and federal agencies began issuing workplace safety guidelines to employers. central valley meat told us in a statement that they're nowda following that ge, but the guidelines are all voluntary. >> what that means is, if anoe employer't want to do it, it's just guidance, you don't have to do it. and at's not fair to those people that work in that dustry who need to have a safe

workplace. the fact is, in, in this65 industry, there arf our brothers and sisters that passed causgovernment agenciesway have failed.de >> altan: the l agency that oversees workplace safety, osha, declined to speak with us, but said in a statement that they're taking steps to address unsafe workplaces,nd that the voluntary idelines were enough to protect workers against covid-19. david michaels, the head of osha under president obama, disagrees.he >>vidence is very clear that recommendations aren't working. the numbers of cases of farm workers, continues to rise. the recommendathons are out e, but we know that they're not being followed enough. there are some employers who are trying to do a good job, but a lot of them, you know, frankly, aren't. >> altan: what can federalsha do right now? >> well, the first thing that the federal government should

do is issue requirements. issue a regulation saying, every employer must ve a plan to make sure workers are protected. ' because if we protect workers on the job, we're not going to stop this epidemic.an workers will pay the hh price of that. the trump administraon could do this now. under the osha law, the federal government can issue an emergency regulation-- they can do that tomorrow-- saying employers must protect workers from covid-19. >> altan: early on in the pandemic, maricruz ladino told us that unlike many companiesd she'ard about, her employer s being aggressive about implementing protections. >> maricruz:

>> altan: i asked her boss at field fresh farms about the safety measures they wereta ng. >> we had that question from the a safe place to be? back, is it we sanitize daily, obviously. in just our normal food safety protocol, we're ove and beyond all the third-partyns certificatio we have, just on a day-to-day basis of wh we have to do to produce a food item ia package. so, really, the only step above for us was physically puing face masks on. part of it is, you don't want them going home, getting their s familyk, other members, young kids, elderly at their home. and we don't want the people in the crew getting sic because we, we need a full crew, and if one person gets sick, maybe em are, "maybe it's not a safe place to be"-- all of the above. >> altan: and what about in the fields, what are you doing? >> fields, same thing. we are splitting crews, splitting times they come in. we've had some people, we've offered it, if they wanted to continue to come in or do a shelter at place. we understand if you want to bee at home, and the a fewhat chose to stay at home, at least for the two-week period that

they initially said they thought it would be. >> altan: were they paid? were they paid if they sheltered in place?. >> thoseose are not, right now, the people that chose to stay home. they're laid off and whether them if they want to ss up to unemployment or not. and again, we haven't had anybody... to point that's been reported to be sick anywhere at any, in any one of our entities. ♪ be altan: though there hav no known infections at work, maricruz is worried because easeveral relatives have a been infected. >> maricruz:

♪ (phone calling out) >> sinthia: >> man (on phone): >> sinthia: >> man: uh-huh. >> sinthia: >> altan: for sinthia hernandez, her worst fears seemed to be coming true. >> sinth:

>> woman: >> sinthia: >> woman: >> sinthia: >> woman:

>> woman 2: >> oy. >> woman: >> sinthia: (voice trembling):

♪ >> altan: over our months of reporting, we heard many stories like sinia's about workers feeling pressured by their circumstances and by their employers. one of those employers was taylor farms, a lti-billion- dollar company in the salinas valley. it has 20,000 employees across the country and sells lettuce to wretailers like walmart ale foods. ay >> here at tr farms, the good news is, is food safety has always been a big focus. >> altan: when the pandemic hitp the coany said it was taking all appropriate measures to protect its workers.a >> sg part of education for us, with all of our team members, w to help everybody understand that we owe it to each other to keep each other healthy. and as a company, we needed to make sure that people felt comfortable staying home... >> altan: but when an employeelo tested positive at ts

flagship organic packing plant in early may, workers told us the company sent a different message. >> woman: >> altan: we spoke to this taylor farms employee who is concealing h identity because she's afraid of losing her job. >> woman: >> man:an >> ashe shot this video on her cellphone of an hr manager addressing employees who hadfu d to work.

>> woman: >> man: >> woman 2: >> man and woman 1: >> man: man 2: >> woman 1 (in interview): >> man: >> woman 1 (in interview

>> man: ♪ >> woman 1: >> man 1:

>> woman 1 (in interview): >> man 1: >> alt: we tked to the manager in the video.

he would not go on camera, but said he was trying to keep people safe and stay productive. taylor farms also declined to go on camera. in a statement, they said they'd worked hard to maintain the food supply while putting in place expanded health d safety protocols for their employees. ♪ in the end, all but a handful of the roughly 250 rkers returned to their shift that day. >> woman 1:

>> altan: we reached out to the head of the association that represents taylor farms,s well other large growers in california. how familiar are you with what happened at taylor farms, or at tanimura & antle? ou >> um,now, taylor, i'm not-- i'm not. tanimura, um, you know, i kn what they reported to, to thed media ba their statement. so i'm not, i don't know, like, what goes on within, you know, a company. weon't have intel in each and every case as to what exactly happened and why and how, or twhat did an employer do ir reaction. but where these come up and we learn about them, anat the end of day, we almost always learn, like, that a company where there is an issue, that an issue happened, we take it upon ourselves to engage them.

>> altan: valadez said his sassociation issued earlyety protocols and is part of unique coalition with local officials, farmworker advocates, and doctors. but he said he's opposed to companies having to publicly disclose their covid cases. >> and i think it's important to see context and significance a important, becau it, it can distract from what the company employees, it can distract fro the fact that there's no such thing as zero-risk, and so something may happen, and the company may have taken the best, most appropriate steps they could haveommunicated as clearly and concisely and as frequently as is humanly possible. the employer could've volunteered to provide housing to this employee, whe there is no requirement to do so. but none of that would getur ca. the only thing that the genera public would then know and befo able tulate opinion on is that this employer may have done something wrong, because here wee associated a negative,

which is the occurrence ofle pehat are covid-19- positive to a particular company... now, were a compan >> altan: so you're saying that putting that information out there would be negative press for the company, just... don't look good. >> i think in general, yes. and we would expect employers, you know, that, at should have the reonsibility to make sure they're clearly communicating with employees to, to educate and help address any fears that, that may result, because we're all living in a situation of the unknown. ♪ >> altan: as the coronavirus has continued to spread, assemblymas rivas has beenng for workplace safety measures that companies must follow.re >> i expected rom cal osha, i expected more from federal osha, to really intervene and to do more in the way of ensuring that there is indury-wide regulations to protecour farm workers. unfortunately, farm workers don't have high-id lobbyists. which makes the passage of any significant legislation very challenging, you know, to be.

quite hone >> altan: in the meantime, california's governor, gavin newsom, has stepped in.'s nnounced measures to help agricultural workers including enforcing ftey guidelines that until now have been voluntary. >> this is talkingbout compliance on health and safety in our meatpacking facilities. one should not have to put their life at risko go to work as an essential worker. >> altan: the governor is creating strike teams that will inspect worksites in 19 tarted counties, and could fine companies that are not following the guidelines. >> now that we have statewide guidelines in place, now that the governor has made the commitment to enforce those heguidelines, is a step in right direction. >> altan: but rivas said the state still needs to do more to understand the scope of the outbreak among farm workers. >> clearly, when it comes to covid-19, this discussion needs to be driven by data.? who's infect where are they infected? why were they infected? we need to do everhing we can to acquire the data that's going to help us makinformed

decisions, but also create and introduce legislation to address problems. ♪ >> altan: some counties are nowa providing dan agricultural worker infections. and the numbers are alarming.ur agricu workers are three times more likely to get covid-19 than other workers in monterey county, according to a new analysis by the californiait ine for rural studies. and research out of u.c. san diego found that in counties across the u.s. where there are more fm workers, more people are dying of covid-19. >> i think the average american has no concept of how food reaches our table.ho we don't knomeat is processed. we have no idea where lettuce comes from.

we have no idea how it's harvested. in i thk the's a huge disconnect with the of us who have sheltered in place not understanding how those people work and how much they have to work, to make a living and to ke it profitable for the company that they're working for. ♪ >> altan: as for osmar orellana, he ended up spending two weeks in isolation with his wife and brother. >> oar: altan (in spanish): >> osmar: sí.ltan (in spanish):

>> osmar: ♪ >> rosa: (water running)

>> (on phone): thank you for calling optumserve health services.is if this n emergency, please hang up and call 911. >> (in spanish >> (presses button)mu (holc playing) >> all of our agents are curreny busy assisting other callers. please remain on the line and e order in which it wasred in received. (hold music playing) (phone ringing) >> (on phone): thank you for calling optumserve, this isch sty-- how can i help you? >> buenas... do you speak spanish? >> i do not. do you need an interpreter?, >> yease. >> one minute. >> (on phone, in spanish): >> sinthia (in spanish):

>> germán: >> sinthia: >> (germán saking spanish) >> germán: >> (speaking spanish) >> wow. >> (on phone): thank you so much. (in spanish): >> sinthia: ♪

(car door closes)

♪ >> go to pbs.org/frontline for more on thert dispronate impact of covid-19 on farmworkers. >> i expected morom cal osha. i expected more from federal osha to really intervene to protect our farmworkers. >> and listen to our podcast with the producers of this film. >> i'm raney aronson executive producer of frontline, and this is the "frontline dispatch".fr >> connect to thontline community on facebook and twitter, and watch anytime on the pbs vio app or pbs.org/frontline. >> ...government orchestrated... ...inside job... ...powerful world government... >> he just kept adding more and more outrageous lies tthe story. >> roger delivers legitimacy to

alex jones and jones delivers to trump a disaffected voter. >> donald trump is our guest. >> i will not let you down. >> now those ideas, which used to be on the fringe are in the mainstream.ki >> conspiratorial th is a feature of this president. >> frontline is made possible by contbutions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. t and corporation for public broadcasting. major support is provided by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation, committed to building a more just, vernt and peaceful world. the ford foundation: thrking with visionaries o frontlines of social change worldwide. additional support is provided by the abrams foundation, committed to excellence in journalism. the park foundion, dedicated to heightening public awareness of critical issues.hn the nd helen glessner family trust. supporting trustworthy journasm that informs and inspires. and by the frontline journalism fund,

with major support from jon and jo ann hagler. support for "covid's hidden toll" is provided by wnet's chasing the dream initiative on poverty and opportunity in america. with funding by the jpb foundation. captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org or >> foron this and other "frontline" programs, visit our website at pbs.org/frontline. ♪ frontline's, "covid's hidden toll" is available on amazo prime video.

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