A northern B.C. mining company has made the public aware of an employee that tested positive for COVID-19 this week.
On Wednesday (Jan. 6), Barkerville Gold Mines Ltd. (BGM) shared a release on social media explaining a contract worker recently traveled to the QR Mill site to begin a new rotation, took a test when they first arrived and has been relocated to its accommodation sites in Wells.
BGM adds it’s since been working on contact-tracing procedures with Northern Health to determine if there have been any known exposures.
“On-site high-risk exposed parties have been tested in BGM’s onsite laboratory and are currently quarantined in isolation at the QR Mill, where exposure to other employees and community members remains limited,” says General Manager Paul Ratte.
“All direct contacts have tested negative for COVID-19 thus far, but will remain in quarantine under the guidance of Northern Health.”
He says BGM conducts routine testing for the health and safety of all employees and nearby communities like Wells and Quesnel.
No official outbreak has been declared by Northern Health as this time.
Construction on the mine is set to continue with the authority monitoring public safety protocols.
As of this publication (Jan. 8), Northern Health has five full outbreaks in effect at Prince George’s Jubilee Lodge, the Internal Medicine and Rehab Units at University Hospital of Northern BC, a pair of Coastal GasLink worksites and among Diversified Transportation employees associated with the LNG Canada Project Site in Kitimat.
There have been 2,338 recorded infections in the region since March 2020, including 32 deaths, 16 people in critical care among 38 hospitalizations, and 1,859 recoveries.
