MONTEREY COUNTY — Monterey County has received 750,000 procedure masks from the state specifically to protect agricultural workers in the area.
The delivery arrived May 7 after the Monterey County Emergency Medical Services Agency Medical Operation Area Coordinator requested them to safeguard farmworkers in the fields, where they often work in close proximity to one another.
The masks, which are from the state’s emergency stockpile of personal protective equipment, come at no cost to the county or workers. The shipment will provide one mask per day to 25,000 agricultural workers for 30 days.
The Monterey County Vintners and Growers Association, Farm Bureau, Grower-Shipper Association of Central California and the California Strawberry Commission were selected to distribute the masks to area workers.
