Gebbers Farms cleared of COVID-19 outbreak

BREWSTER - The dangers of bias and misinformation can complicate our response to COVID-19, especially in these uncertain times.

To make sure you have the latest and most accurate facts, we remind you to check your sources, and rely on state and local health departments.

For example, Gebbers Farms came under fire based on assumptions that people made about H2A farmworkers. Those assumptions may have been unintentional, or they may have been caused by racial bias, but the result is that one of our key employers and primary industries is being criticized.

In fact, when Gebbers Farms was required to test over 3,100 employees, what they found was a very low positivity rate, 0.7%, which is far lower than the positivity rates that we’re seeing in the tests of the community at large (click here for our data dashboard).

What we do know is that it will take all of us working together to contain this virus. When it comes to the public health of our community, we are all individually responsible for wearing a mask, washing our hands, and staying at least six feet apart. Together, we can also help make sure that people have what they need, like paid time off or help getting groceries, to isolate and quarantine when it’s recommended.

We encourage everyone – no matter where you work – to get tested at the first sign of symptoms, and to work with contract tracers to make sure we can stop the virus in its tracks. Click here for testing locations.

The pandemic is global, but how we choose to respond is local, and the people of Okanogan County are the kind of people who look out for each other.

Please join us in spreading facts, not fear.