Covid-19: Confirmed case at Gahcho Kué, presumptive positive at Diavik

The NWT government reported two new Covid-19 cases at the territory’s diamond mines on Wednesday: a confirmed case at Gahcho Kué and a presumptive positive at Diavik.

Neither case will count toward the territory’s total – which rose to 11 with a case in Fort Smith earlier in the day – as the individuals involved are not NWT residents.

There is no risk to NWT communities, the territory’s chief public health officer said.

The Gahcho Kué worker travelled “on a charter flight which went directly from the south to the mine site,” Chief Public Health Officer Dr Kami Kandola’s office said in a statement.

The individual is isolating at Gahcho Kué’s designated quarantine area alongside all potential contacts, the statement added.

The Diavik case involves an Alberta resident who travelled directly to the mine by charter flight, Kandola’s office said.

That individual has been “transported safely back home from the mine site.” Contacts at the mine are isolating and Kandola’s office believes there is “no additional risk” for NWT communities.

Work to confirm the presumptive positive is under way.