Some operations at Fortescue Metals Group’s Cloudbreak mine have been suspended and Qantas has cancelled flights after a mine worker returned a weak COVID-positive result.
Some operations at Fortescue Metals Group’s Cloudbreak mine have been suspended and Qantas has cancelled flights after a mine worker returned a weak COVID-positive result.
The maintenance contractor, a Greenwood man in his 30s who had been working at Fortescue Metals Group’s Cloudbreak mine, is believed to have been at Perth Airport on July 20 at the same time as a Queensland traveller who tested positive for the virus.
The FIFO worker returned to Perth on July 27 and was tested under Fortescue protocols, returning a weak COVID-positive result, and then a negative result.
The weak positive prompted the state government to publicly urge those who had attended any of the 11 potential exposure sites in Greenwood, South Perth, Subiaco and Fremantle to undergo testing.
The man is now in isolation and awaiting further testing results, but it is still unclear whether he was actually infectious while in the community.
It is understood he tested positive for the virus in March last year after returning from overseas, and Health Minister Roger Cook said the weak positive could mean the man is still shedding the virus.
During a press conference this morning, Premier Mark McGowan confirmed none of the 7,000 people who presented for testing yesterday had returned positive test results - including the man’s girlfriend, housemate and three of his closest colleagues.
He also said CCTV footage had since confirmed the two men walked past each other in the airport, but it is understood the Queensland traveller was wearing a mask.
WA health authorities have identified 83 close contacts of the man, the majority of whom were based at the mine site, and a further 554 casual contacts.
All close contacts are required to quarantine for 14 days.
Qantas cancelled eight flights out of Perth Airport yesterday after a handful of staff were forced to isolate and get tested, including flights from Karratha, Kalgoorlie, Newman and Port Hedland.
In a statement released this afternoon, FMG confirmed it had enforced a short-term suspension of its operations to conduct testing across its mine sites, but said the pause was not expected to affect the company’s shipments.
Fortescue has been working with the Department of Health to track down close and casual contacts of the man and, as of midday today, has conducted more than 1,200 PCR tests and 850 rapid antigen tests.
So far, all rapid tests have returned negative results.
Results for the PCR tests are still pending.
Fortescue chief executive Elizabeth Gaines said the company was taking every precaution to ensure the safety of its team members and their families and has reiterated calls for its workforce to get the vaccine in line with federal government advice.
