JASON FRANSON/The Canadian Presscases sweeps through the region at the same time that thousands of workers are being brought in for spring maintenance shutdowns at various plants.
The company started a voluntary vaccination clinic at the site on Monday morning and has implemented a rapid testing program to screen workers before they travel to Kearl, which is just beginning a scheduled maintenance “turnaround,” she added.As of Monday morning, Suncor had 107 active COVID-19 cases at its Base Plant mine and upgrader, 13 at its Fort Hills mine and nine at MacKay River, which uses steam to recover bitumen through wells, reported spokesman Paul Newmarch.
Last week, Suncor said it would delay a planned maintenance shutdown at Base Plant to avoid increasing the number of contractors in the region until similar work at the Syncrude oil sands mine is completed, a move it said would not affect production guidance. “During our recent Horizon maintenance period, we also used rapid testing of asymptomatic staff to help us quickly identify, contact trace and limit the spread of COVID-19 at our work site,” she said.