One COVID-19 case confirmed in Ekati mine worker


Fri., April 30, 2021

An aerial view of the Ekati mine, 300 kilometres northeast of Yellowknife. One new case was confirmed at the site on Friday. The infected person and 25 others are self-isolating on site. (Dominion Diamond Corporation - image credit)

A case of COVID-19 has been confirmed in a worker at the Ekati Diamond Mine in the Northwest Territories.

Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Kami Kandola said in a news release Friday evening that an investigation and contact tracing show no risk to the public.

The person did not get infected at the mine, the release says, and all screening measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 were in place.

The infected person and 25 other people identified as contacts are self-isolating at the mine site.

"The OCPHO [Office of the Chief Public Health Officer] is working closely with the Ekati mine to gather information, ensure measures that mitigate risk of transmission are in place, and, monitor the situation," the release says.

In a news release issued Wednesday evening, Kandola said she is now treating all new infections in the territory as variants of concern until confirmed otherwise.

The case won't be included in the territory's COVID-19 statistics as the individual is not an N.W.T. resident.

As of Friday evening, there are nine active cases in the territory, six of which are N.W.T. residents.

So far, 25,857 people in the territory have received one dose of the vaccine and 20,943 people have received the second dose.