Skip to content

Kirkland Lake Gold COVID outbreak declared over

It was declared in early March
macassa_cropped
Kirkland Lake Gold’s flagship Macassa Mine is located in Kirkland Lake. Kirkland Lake Gold photo

The COVID-19 outbreak at Kirkland Lake Gold is over.

The Timiskaming Health Unit (THU) announced today that the outbreak declared at Kirkland Lake Gold's Macassa Mine in early March has ended.

"The potential for substantial spread was averted due to individuals following public health measures," said Dr. Glenn Corneil, THU's acting medical officer of health, in a news release. 

"We know that COVID can appear quickly, and we are pleased that the outbreak has been controlled."

During the outbreak, the health unit worked with Kirkland Lake Gold representatives to make sure the contact tracing was thorough. The company took all necessary precautions to reduce the risk of infection, according to the health unit. 

"The safety of everyone at our Macassa operation and the Kirkland Lake community is our utmost priority, and we thank our partners at the Timiskaming Health Unit for their expertise and support to ensure we took every precaution to keep our employees, their families and community safe," said Duncan King, Kirkland Lake Gold's vice-president of Canadian operations.

To date in the Timiskaming area, there have been 107 confirmed cases of COVID-19. Of those, 105 are recovered and one person has died. There is one known active case. 

The Timiskaming region is currently in the orange-restrict zone of the provincial COVID-19 Regional Response Framework.

– TimminsToday