One case of COVID-19 confirmed at Meliadine gold mine

An employee at Agnico Eagle's Meliadine Mine near Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, tested positive for COVID-19, the company said in a news release Thursday afternoon.

The individual tested presumptively positive on Dec. 26 and then was isolating at the site. The employee was then flown to their home province on Dec. 30 where the diagnosis was later confirmed.

It is the seventh confirmed case of COVID-19 detected at the mine since the start of the pandemic, said a company spokesperson.

Contact tracing identified 13 people at the mine who may have been in contact with the infected employee. Following company policy, the 13 people were in isolation at the mine before being flown to their home provinces where they have been instructed to follow local public health measures, the release states.

The company said in the release that the employees will be tested again before returning to work at the gold mine, which is about 25 kilometres north of Rankin Inlet.

Agnico Eagle said it is working closely with the office of the chief public Health officer in Nunavut and is following its recommendations.

It said the risk of transmission to Rankin Inlet is very low.