Breaking News

Marathon FHT – 3 Positive Cases of COVID-19

The Marathon Family Health Team (MFHT) and the North of Superior Healthcare Group (NOSH) are announcing the 8th, 9th and 10th positive cases of COVID-19 in Marathon.

All patients who have tested positive for the virus have been contacted by the Thunder Bay District Health Unit (TBDHU) and are self-isolating at home to prevent further spread of the virus. The exposure category of all new positive cases in our community were identified as “close contact” by the TBDHU.

Outbreak notification from Barrick Hemlo

Last week, an outbreak was declared by the TBDHU at the Barrick Hemlo, Williams Mine. In response to the outbreak and the increasing number of positive cases in the mine community, all employees and contractors who worked Day Shift from November 21st to November 25th and/or who worked Night Shift from November 26th to November 29th were asked to go home on December 5th and to self-isolate. These individuals were asked to self-isolate because they are all considered to be high risk contacts.

All individuals who worked these shifts are encouraged to call the TBDHU at 807-625-5900 if they have symptoms, if they develop symptoms, or if they have had any symptoms at some point since November 21st.  All other people living in the same household must also self-isolate if the worker has or has had symptoms.

Notification from Holy Saviour School

On December 6th, Holy Saviour School announced a second confirmed case of COVID-19 in their school. This has led to many members of the school community being asked to self-isolate by the TBDHU. Due to this and the rise in positive cases within Marathon, Holy Saviour School announced that they will be moving to distance learning at this time.

All members of the Holy Saviour School community, including children and parents, are encouraged to continue to monitor for symptoms of COVID-19. If there is symptom onset, first self-isolate, and then call the TBDHU or the Marathon Family Health Team to book an appointment to be tested for COVID-19.

Contact tracing

The TBDHU is completing very thorough contact tracing and will contact those who are considered high risk contacts of the children from Holy Saviour School who have tested positive for COVID-19. In this case, all workers from Barrick Hemlo who are considered “close contacts” will not be contacted by TBDHU. Instead, they are encouraged to call TBDHU to advise them that they are a close contact and to ask about COVID-19 testing. TBDHU will guide individuals on what to do.

Getting tested for COVID-19 at the Marathon COVID-19 Assessment Centre

To help limit the further spread of COVID-19 in our communities and to help our local healthcare system manage the cases, all close contacts of the recently confirmed positive cases will be asked to self-isolate and to possibly get tested for COVID-19. Those who require testing will be advised by the TBDHU to contact the MFHT to arrange an appointment for testing at the Assessment Center (see below for instructions on how to contact the MFHT).

To manage this large increase in COVID-19 testing demand, the Marathon COVID-19 Assessment Centre will be expanding their hours and increasing the amount of healthcare providers available to provide testing. MFHT and NOSH want to assure our communities that we have the capacity to test everyone in our community who needs to be tested.

Self-isolation

Self-isolation is about protecting others and slowing down the spread of COVID-19. It is very important that anyone who has the virus, or might have been exposed to it, limits the number of people they come into contact with for 14 days. This is the most effective way of preventing COVID-19 from spreading in our communities.

For more information on self-isolation and how to do it properly, please click here or visit the Marathon Family Health Team – Health Promotion Facebook page.

This Media Release
Latest posts by This Media Release (see all)