THUNDER BAY – The Vice President of Impala Canada says, “There are now eleven COVID-19 positive confirmed cases in connection to the LDI mine We were informed of four additional COVID-19 cases today. Three of these individuals were confirmed by the Thunder Bay District Health Unit and one by the North Eastern Health Unit (Timiskaming). Our thoughts and concerns are with these individuals from our team. We have extended our care and our support.”
Erin Satterthwaite, VP Corporate Affairs and Communications, Impala Canada tells NetNewsLedger that, “At the designated hotel, Impala Canada has assembled a large team consisting of LDI management and staff and security personnel to provide support to those under self-isolation. Present 24/7, this team is not under self-isolation and they are following all pandemic response protocols, as directed by the TBDHU also has inspectors on the premises. We are all working together to support the individuals in self-isolation and ensure they understand the seriousness of the situation. And, most importantly, to ensure the self- isolated individuals comply with all the pandemic response protocols that are in place.”
Impala Canada states that “No self-isolated LDI team member has left the hotel. The measures that we have in place to ensure that everyone at the hotel observes self-isolation protocols include:
- Multiple security personnel patrolling the interior and exterior of the building
- The LDI management team has a temporary office set up to:
- Manage any requests/concerns by self-isolating team members
- Arrange delivery of basic goods, as required (strictly following all protocols)
Satterthwaite states, “Two of the eleven confirmed individuals remain at LDI mine site, and under the care of medical professionals.”
“Extensive close contact tracing and outreach continue by Public Health, with our full Additional testing is underway for LDI team members with symptoms. In addition to the above cases, a number of LDI team members have tested negative.”
“Despite our best efforts with the pandemic response protocols implemented at LDI, which were scrutinized twice and deemed best practice by the TBDHU, the coronavirus has spread amongst some of our The growing number of cases reinforces how fierce this virus is. we continue to fight it together as a team. In everything we are doing right now – whether at home, on-site or at the hotel – we are putting health and safety first.
“As a reminder, on Monday, April 13th, the Impala Canada team, together with the TBDHU, executed a safe and orderly exit of the LDI mine The large majority of the LDI team are now in self-isolation until April 27th at home or at the designated hotel in Thunder Bay.”
Impala Canada reports that “The decision on where to self-isolate was determined by the TBDHU based on each individual’s home circumstances and their ability to self-isolate. The decision was made in the best interest of protecting families and the group at the designated hotel includes both workers from the Thunder Bay region who do not have the ability to self-isolate at home and workers from different parts of the province/country who were advised not to travel.
“The collective LDI/TBDHU/Hotel team has a strict no-nonsense policy at the This policy covers compliance with all pandemic response protocols, but also extends to proper behaviour while on the hotel premises. As directed by the TBDHU, any individual found to be not complying with the rules will be removed from the premises,” the company says in an email to NetNewsLedger. “Individuals that do not follow our on-nonsense policy will be dealt with Two individuals that neglected to comply with the safety protocols were, under the direction of the TBDHU, removed from the designated hotel and will complete their self-isolation elsewhere. These individuals, who work for contractors at the LDI mine site, did not leave hotel premises but were verbally inappropriate to hotel staff”.
Impala Canada adds, “Finally, please also note that the designated hotel also has guests and organizations unrelated to our LDI We are not accountable for the movements and actions of these individuals and groups.”
