Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens on May 3, 2019. Photo by Mark Brown/Blackburn News.Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens on May 3, 2019. Photo by Mark Brown/Blackburn News.
Windsor

City procuring second hotel to isolate temporary foreign workers

It is still waiting to hear from the federal government about funding its first Isolation and Recovery Centre, and now, the City of Windsor expects to open a second.

Mayor Drew Dilkens said the city could sign papers on Friday to procure another 300 rooms at a second hotel so temporary foreign workers can isolate themselves with COVID-19 without the fear of spreading it to others.

Funding for the first centre runs out at the end of March, and the city needs $17.8-million to keep it open for another year.

Earlier this week, the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit imposed a pause on bringing any more temporary foreign workers into the region as the number of those testing positive for COVID-19 swelled.

Farmers in the region expected about 2,000 over the next three weeks.

Calling it a public health emergency, Acting Medical Officer of Health Doctor Shanker Nesathurai said 275 were isolating.

Meanwhile, Windsor West MP Brian Masse increased the pressure on the Trudeau government. A letter addressed to the federal Health and Immigration Ministers also demanded an immediate commitment to funding and called it "a fundamental public health measure."

The Red Cross has a contract with the federal government to operate the centre, although the city has provided five staff members.

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