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Pogo Mine Reports Positive Case

A worker at the Pogo gold mine has tested positive to COVID-19. And he may have come in contact with up to 14 others at the mine that’s located 38 miles northeast of Delta Junction.

Pogo owner Northern Star Resources issued a news release Sunday afternoon that says the worker tested positive after coming off a 12-day shift at the gold mine. The worker lives in Fairbanks and with family and getting medical care. He hasn’t developed serious symptoms or complications, and he’ll be under observation and isolation for 14 days.

The company news release says eight other employees at Pogo who may have been exposed to the coronavirus also were in isolation Sunday at the mine while they were waiting for transportation from the site.

Those employees and six others who were on leave but may also have been exposed to the virus will all remain in isolation for 14 days and under observation and treatment if needed.

The Northern Star news release says work at Pogo mine will continue. The company says it will continue its social-distancing policies and stringent hygiene and cleaning standards. And it says “comprehensive sanitation on site” is under way.

Tim has worked in the news business for over three decades, mainly as a newspaper reporter and editor in southern Arizona. Tim first came to Alaska with his family in 1967, and grew up in Delta Junction before emigrating to the Lower 48 in 1977 to get a college education and see the world.