Worker tests positive for COVID-19 at Lac des Iles mine in northwestern Ontario

A worker at the Lac des Iles Mine, about 90 km north of Thunder Bay, Ont., has tested positive for COVID-19.

Impala Canada, the company which owns the palladium mine, said it was informed of a positive test by one of its employees on April 7. The employee had been working at the mine, and staying at the mine's camp from March 29 April 4

The company said the worker had contact with fiveother crew members, who are all now self-isolating at home.

The individual who tested positive for COVID-19 is also at home in Thunder Bay, and under self-quarantine.

The company said the effected individual drove to, and departed from the mine site in a personal vehicle, and did not show any symptoms while at work.

"In close collaboration with the Thunder Bay District Health Unit (TBDHU), we have also begun exhaustive contact tracing to understand and communicate with others who may have come in contact with the confirmed individual while on site," said Erin Satterthwaite, Impala Canada's vice-president of corporate affairs and communication.

The company has asked people who were at the mine site during the last week of March to be extra vigilant in self-monitoring for COVID-19 symptoms. If employees have any symptoms, they have been told not to come to work.

The mine continues to operate, Satterthwaite said, and the employee camp is thoroughly sanitized daily by an enhanced cleaning crew.

The mine said its pandemic response plan has been put into action, and includes:

• Screening every person who enters and exits site, including temperature checks
• Increased physical spacing between individuals on the buses and shuttles
• Reduced number of individuals in crew lineups and in the cage going underground
• Enhanced (and enforced) handwashing protocols
• Increased cleaning staff and regime
• Significantly reduced the number of people in the kitchen and dining area with new rotation schedule
• Banned the use of mobile phones in the kitchen
• Temperature screening of kitchen staff daily
• Following all government travel-related instructions

There are 21 confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 in Thunder Bay and district, as of April 9.