A glimmer of hope, and a flashing red warning light…

Nely Rodriguez of the CIW speaks to a national TV news reporter while posting educational flyers on COVID-19 prevention in Immokalee last week. She is standing next to one of seven hand-washing stations installed around the farmworker community as part of an innovative partnership for prevention with Lipman Family Farms, a Fair Food Program participating grower, and local health and emergency management agencies.

Targeted COVID-19 testing on the way for Immokalee?…

CBS Reporter Jim DeFede: “Have you had a chance to look at the issues surrounding Immokalee?”

Jared Moskowitz, Director, Florida Emergency Management: “I’ve been talking to the Emergency Management director of Collier County… I can tell you that on my list of places to expand (testing) over the next week or two, Immokalee is on that list.”

But… the clock is ticking, and the tragic experience of Smithfield meatpacking workers in South Dakota provides a stark cautionary tale for what happens when time runs out…

Let’s begin with the good news — or, better put, the possibly good news — out of Tallahassee. It seems that the voices of the nearly 30,000 people who have signed the petition calling for testing, protective equipment, and a field hospital for the Immokalee farmworker community are being heard by those in a position to make a difference here in Florida, as this exchange yesterday between veteran CBS reporter Jim DeFede in Miami and State Director of Emergency Management in Tallahassee, Jared Moskowitz, would indicate:

Jim DeFede on Twitter

I read a story about the need for help for farm workers and @ciw in Immokalee regarding Coronavirus testing and so I asked the head of the Florida's emergency management @JaredEMoskowitz about it. We will see what happens. He also discussed need...

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Director Moskowitz’s intention was echoed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, albeit in broader terms, in his own press briefing yesterday, as well. From the Ft. Myers News-Press:

… Gov. Ron DeSantis has touted efforts to increase testing, with additional mobile testing sites being set up around the state, National Guard “strike forces” going into nursing homes and the availability of quick tests.

The National Guard strike teams were so successful they have been expanded, DeSantis said this week. The state has 10 teams of four soldiers each testing people in nursing homes, where there is concern over direct-care workers who are asymptomatic but may have been exposed.

Those strike teams took samples from 500 people on Tuesday, DeSantis said: “We want to expand that as widely as we can. It is very, very important we focus resources on those people who are most vulnerable to COVID-19.”…

Make no mistake, this shift in strategy was the direct result of the pressure on officials to do more to protect Florida’s most vulnerable communities, from seniors in assisted living facilities to farmworkers in Immokalee. Your calls, signatures, and support on social media have raised the profile of the looming crisis in Immokalee to a level that can no longer be ignored, and now testing, one of the key requests in our letter to the governor, is squarely on the agenda.

But now is no time to relax: In the coming days, it will be crucial to ensure that state – and local – officials both deliver, promptly, on their promise of testing and provide the space and resources for the isolation of, and care for, those who test positive...