With seven positive tests for COVID-19 traced to people in B.C. who have returned from the Kearl Lake oil sands project in northern Alberta, the B.C. government has issued an order of self-isolation for anyone who has returned to B.C. from that mine and processing plant.
“Right now I am ordering anybody who has been in the Kearl Lake project since March 15 and has returned to British Columbia that they must self-isolate for 14 days after their return,” provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said April 20. “For many people, this will mean that their return was over 14 days ago. If they had symptoms during that time, or if they continue to have symptoms, we want you to connect with 8-1-1 and tell us about that.”
Henry said there are more coronavirus test results pending on other workers, and Alberta health officials are working to contain the outbreak.
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“Both Interior Health and Northern Health have had individuals who have come back and tested positive from the outbreak in Kearl Lake,” Henry said. “They are doing contact tracing and have identified all of the close contacts of those individuals that we know about at this point.
“We expect there will be more people. We know that there are people coming back and forth between places in Alberta on a regular basis as part of the essential work that they do.”
@tomfletcherbc
tfletcher@blackpress.ca
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