Nearly 2,600 tests for COVID-19 have now been completed at Rio Tinto’s Diavik diamond mine Canada, with no cases detected in the workforce, according to a press release from the Rio Tinto.
Diavik is also supporting COVID-19 testing at the nearby Gahcho Kué and Snap Lake mines, processing over 850 additional tests to date. This brings the total number of tests completed at Diavik to approximately 3,450 tests.
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, Rio Tinto has worked in collaboration with the Yellowknives Dene First Nation (YKDFN), Food Rescue, YWCA NWT and the YK Food Bank, contributing over C$20,000 to various grassroots food security initiatives in the Northwest Territories.
The COVID-19 testing program is being run using an onsite laboratory installed at Diavik by not-for-profit public health experts GuardRX. The on-site testing adds a further layer to the precautionary controls for workers at Diavik, guided by the Northwest Territories government that include: Completing 14 days of recorded self-monitoring before travelling to the mine, including temperature; checks, and physical distancing; Medical screening before travelling to the mine; Health screening with temperature checks; and daily monitoring including temperature testing while at the mine.
Other measures in place at Diavik include, having anyone who can do so work remotely and cancelling all non-business critical travel to site; Longer shift rosters to reduce the frequency of travel to and from the site; Using charter flights so employees and contractors are not exposed to commercial flights; Physical distancing protocols at site.
Aruna Gaitonde, Editor in Chief of the Asian Bureau, Rough & Polished
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