2 July 2020
To further increase the level of protection and our ability to respond effectively against COVID-19, Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation (“Baffinland” or the “Company”) has been utilizing an on-site, portable COVID-19 testing lab since April 25, 2020. Working with our service providers, Baffinland’s mobile testing lab has enabled us to perform over 3,600 tests to date on employees and contractors who work at the Mary River Project. All employees are tested upon arrival to site and must present negative prior to proceeding to work. Follow-up testing is also conducted on all employees five days after arrival to site. This provides an opportunity to capture asymptomatic employees or infections that may have been incubating. It was during this residual testing that we detected the presumptive case which triggered immediate containment of the affected employee and the initiation of our Pandemic Response Plan. This lab was an additional safety measure to all of the health and safety protocols and controls Baffinland has in place, including, but not limited to:
Sending our Nunavummiut and high-risk employees home at the onset of the pandemic;
Changing the fly-in, fly-out schedule to 28-days on and 28-days off to minimize the risk of an infected person coming to site, reducing the exposure to the virus and allowing employees to self isolate prior to travelling to site;
Creating a quarantine zone on site should anyone exhibit any symptoms; and
Increasing hygiene protocols, mask usage and social distancing measures at our facilities including camp accommodations, cafeterias and charter terminals.
The affected employee will remain in isolation while we continue to monitor his condition. Additionally, Baffinland initiated contact tracing and has isolated all employees who were in close contact with the affected individual. All employees in isolation are doing well and remain asymptomatic.