Table 4.

Concerns about spouses’ employment and risks of COVID-19, comparing respondents in farmworker and non-farmworker families in North Carolina, May 2020.

Theme	Representative Quotations
Farmworker families
Problems with mask use	• It worries me that he goes to work. There are several people in the car, and they don’t use masks. • With the heat, they have to remove the mask because they cannot stand the heat. • Barely anyone uses masks. • They don’t use masks because it is too not outside, and they are outside all day. • Not everyone uses a mask. Even my husband takes it off because he says he sweats a lot. • Nobody uses masks because they sweat a lot, and it bothers them. • Despite the company rules, as soon as the foreman leaves them alone, some people take off their masks because they say it bothers them to work.
Difficulties maintaining physical distancing	• There are many people, and they are all very close. He works on the blueberry. • There are several people, and, although they all wear masks, they are together when they are cutting cabbage. There is not much distance. • He is planting tobacco. Although they use masks, they are very close. • They have to be in groups all the time, and sometimes they are too close.
Concerns about others taking precautions	• Well, nobody [at his work] takes precautions. • It does worry me not knowing if the co-workers take precautions when they go to the grocery store because at work they don’t use masks. • Not all his co-workers wash their hands or wear face masks.
Possible contact with infected individuals	• It is scary for him to be close to other people and not know if he is going to get infected.
Non-farmworker families
Concerns about others taking precautions	• The employees don’t use masks, and the employers don’t provide them with any to protect themselves. • My husband installs air conditioners, and they are not using protection. • I worry because the employer should provide protection, because without protection it is dangerous.
Possible contact with infected individuals	• I worry there are people who are infected [at his job] and they can infect us. • There are several people at the worksite, and I worry he might get infected. • I worry that he is being exposed to getting sick.
Difficulties maintaining physical distancing	• The clients at his work don’t respect the distances