Nunavut miners will begin returning to Agnico Eagle mines in next few weeks

Nunavut public health officials have worked with Agnico Eagle to allow Nunavut employees of the mining company to gradually return to work. 

Miners, who are Nunavut residents, have been off work since last spring with 75 per cent pay in order to reduce the risk of COVID-19 spreading to Nunavut communities. 

Cate Macleod, press secretary to Nunavut's premier, made the announcement at a press conference Monday morning.

Returning to work will be voluntary at first and done in stages, Macleod said. The process will begin over the next two to three weeks with Agnico Eagle reaching out to its employees in the Kivalliq region. 

Miners in the Qikiqtaaluk will have longer to wait. 

Baffinland Iron Mines' operations at its Mary River site remain suspended after a COVID-19 outbreak that started in May. While there has been no transmission on site since May 29 and no active cases since June 5, Nunavut's chief public health officer said it's still too early to send workers back. 

"We want to get Nunavummiut back to work at Baffinland, but that will happen when we're certain that it's safe and this outbreak is over," Dr. Michael Patterson, said.

Baffinland began sending its southern workers home when there were two or three dozen positive cases at the site, Patterson said. 

No new cases so far from hospital COVID-19 case

On Friday, two exposure notices were issued: one for anyone who'd been in the Qikiqtani Hospital's emergency room waiting room from Monday to Wednesday last week, and the other for the Tammaativvik medical boarding home. 

Patterson said that after extensive testing at the boarding home over the weekend, no other cases were detected, so medical travellers can start going home as of Monday. 

More than 100 swabs were collected from boarding home clients and staff, which yielded no positive cases. 

High-risk contacts that have been identified are still isolating. 

There have also been no cases identified so far in testing related to the emergency room. Those who were in the waiting room and are without symptoms should go to Cadet Hall in Iqaluit from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. for a COVID-19 test. Those with symptoms should call the COVID-19 hotline. 

The Department of Health does regular surveillance testing in schools, something Patterson said will continue. 

Youth vaccine clinics with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine start this week in communities across the territory. 

Nurses will have a conversation with teens interested in the vaccine. If the nurse determines the young person understands what they are consenting to, parental consent is not required. If the nurse feels parental consent is required, the young person will be asked to come back with a parent. 

Miss the press conference? Watch it here: 

Contact tracing ongoing at Aqsarniit School 

To calm concerns expressed on social media], Patterson assured people that there is not an outbreak at the Aqsarniit Middle School in Iqaluit. 

Both students who've been diagnosed with COVID-19 contracted it outside the school and were identified through contact tracing, Patterson said. They are both asymptomatic and doing well, he said. 

There have been 21 contacts identified from the two positive cases. Contact tracing and swabbing will continue throughout Monday, starting with those who were in the same class as the two students. 

Patterson said public health is still working on who on their bus may be considered a contact. 
The cases were identified on Friday, but the public was not notified until Saturday. Patterson said this was because the Department of Education notified parents who were directly affected first. 

"We had to make sure that the individuals who'd been directly affected knew first, before we made a public announcement, so that was our first priority, '' Patterson said. 

Variant testing for cases at the school will not be back until the end of the week. 

The cohort attending on Monday has no crossover with the affected cohort, so the risk is minimal, Patterson said, therefore there was no need to affect this cohort's education. 

If any of these tests come back positive, public health will reassess what makes the most sense for the school. 

There are currently nine active cases in Iqaluit and contact tracing is ongoing. 

In all, 253 people have recovered in the latest COVID-19 outbreak in the capital.