'He's in our hearts': Family and friends still seek answers one year after Nathan Wise’s disappearance
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
The Canadian Red Cross has been called in to help with contact tracing at an iron ore mine that may have played an early role in spreading the highly transmissible Delta coronavirus variant around the country.
Public Safety Minister Bill Blair tweeted Tuesday that the Red Cross will provide remote contact tracing support related to COVID-19 cases at the fly-in Mary River mine until Sunday.
Operated by the Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation and located on the north end of Baffin Island – remote even for Nunavut – Mary River made headlines earlier this year because of local opposition to plans to expand the mine, including a week-long blockade of its access road and airstrip by Inuit hunters.
A few cases of COVID-19 were detected at the mine sporadically through 2020, but the situation escalated last month when what is now known as the Delta variant began to spread there.
An outbreak at the site was confirmed by territorial health officials on May 2. At the time, there were nine active cases of COVID-19 at Mary River among some 1,000 workers.
Although shift changes and other non-essential travel were halted when the outbreak was declared, the case count continued to climb. By May 4, the nine cases had become 12. Two days after that, the number was 23 and non-essential operations at the site were shut down.
That meant a flurry of activity as most of the mine's active workers returned to their homes across the country. Yet it wasn't until more than three weeks later that health authorities in Ontario, Newfoundland and Labrador, and elsewhere began to publicly warn household members and high-risk contacts of those who worked at the mine and tested positive for the virus.
It is difficult to determine exactly how many cases were the result of exposure at the Mary River mine, because Nunavut does not include them in its overall COVID-19 case count.
Instead, individuals who test positive at the mine are counted as COVID-19 cases in their home communities – where they live during the weeks when they are not at the site.
Provincial health authorities in Ontario reported on May 31 that they were aware of more than 120 positive cases in workers who had returned to the province from Mary River, covering 33 of Ontario's 34 health regions. The timespan of mine workers returning to the province closely aligns with that of the Delta variant becoming a serious concern in Ontario, although no direct connection has been proven.
Dr. Michael Patterson, Nunavut's chief public health officer, told reporters on Monday that the last new diagnosis of COVID-19 at Mary River was made on May 29, and that there have not been any active cases there since June 5.
The mine remains in an outbreak situation, however, and the territory reminded mine employees last week that once they leave the site and return home, they must isolate and notify their local public health authority.
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
Dozens of Ontarians are expressing frustration in the province’s health-care system after their family doctors either dropped them as patients or threatened to after they sought urgent care elsewhere.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
Amazon's paid subscription service provides free delivery for online shopping across Canada except for remote locations, the company said in an email. While customers in Iqaluit qualify for the offer, all other communities in Nunavut are excluded.
The fire burning near Fort McMurray grew from 25 hectares to 5,500 hectares over the weekend.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin began a Cabinet shakeup on Sunday, proposing the replacement of Sergei Shoigu as defence minister as he begins his fifth term in office.
Police are searching for a suspect in a homicide investigation after a man was slashed in downtown Toronto on Sunday.
There were some scary moments for several people on a northern Ontario highway caught on video Thursday after a chain reaction following a truck fire.
Health Canada announced various product recalls this week, including electric adapters, armchairs, cannabis edibles and vehicle components.
English, history, entertainment, math and geography: high school trivia teams could be quizzed on any of it when they compete at the Reach for the Top Nationals in Ottawa in June.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
The threat of zebra mussels has prompted the federal government to temporarily ban watercraft from a Manitoba lake popular with tourists.
A small Ajax dessert shop that recently received a glowing review from celebrity food critic Keith Lee is being forced to move after a zoning complaint was made following the social media influencer’s visit last month.
The Canada Science and Technology Museum is inviting visitors to explore their poop. A new exhibition opens at the Ottawa museum on Friday called, 'Oh Crap! Rethinking human waste.'
The Regina Police Service says it is the first in Saskatchewan and possibly Canada to implement new technology in its detention facility that will offer real-time monitoring of detainees’ vital health metrics.
Just as she had feared, a restaurant owner from eastern Quebec who visited Montreal had her SUV stolen, but says it was all thanks to the kindness of strangers on the internet — not the police — that she got it back.