California launches new COVID-19 temporary housing program

The state of California is looking to build on the success of the Grower Shipper Association of Central California’s quarantined housing program with an expanded statewide effort to limit the spread of the new coronavirus in rural areas.

Governor Gavin Newsom said the new state program, Housing for the Harvest, will provide safe, temporary isolation spaces for farm workers who test positive or were exposed to the virus. That, he said in a July 24 news release, will limit the risk of spreading COVID-19 to coworkers or households. 

The state program will operate in partnership with counties and local partners in the farming communities of the state’s Central Valley, Central Coast, and Imperial Valley, according to the release. Newsom did not reveal the cost for the program.