THUNDER BAY – A COVID-19 outbreak at a gold mine near Marathon now involves a fourth confirmed case, the Barrick Gold Corporation has announced.
The Thunder Bay District Health Unit declared an outbreak at the Williams mine, located about 350 kilometres east of Thunder Bay, earlier this week.
All three were associated with a specific, but unnamed, work area at the mine. The company did not specify whether the latest case involved a worker from the same area in a release issued Saturday night.
In a message posted to the mine’s Facebook page Saturday, the company identified nine underground shifts during which employees or contractors may have been exposed. Anyone who worked those shifts, which range from Nov. 21 to Nov. 29, has been directed to immediately go into self-isolation, Barrick said.
Those identified as high-risk contacts will be contacted directly by a public health nurse.
Operations at the mine continue, with the health unit stating earlier this week that the company was implementing appropriate precautions.
“The mine has already undertaken many measures to reduce any spread of the virus at the mine site,” a health unit release stated. “These are currently being enhanced and reinforced and the mine has communicated these enhancements to its employees, contractors, the community and First Nation partners. Further measures will be taken as needed to manage this situation.”
