FILE PHOTO: A Thai man prepares trees at a red fruit farm near Odemira, Portugal February 7, 2019. Picture taken February 7, 2019. REUTERS/Rafael Marchante/File Photo
LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal's government said on Tuesday it would protect the rights of migrant fruit and vegetable pickers and keep them safe from COVID-19 after a wave of infections in the sector revived concerns over the conditions they live in. As Portugal entered the final phase of easing a national lockdown last week, sanitary cordons were imposed in the southern municipality of Odemira, where hundreds of plastic-covered greenhouses rely on migrant labour to operate.
People are not allowed in or out of two parishes. One of them, Sao Teotonio, reported 1,910 cases per 100,000 people over a 14-day period. The country's average is around 64 cases.
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