The Opposition Tories are renewing calls for point-of-entry COVID testing after a foreign essential worker tested positive for the virus several days after arriving in the province last week.
The Russian man had been contracted by Nalcor to work on the Lower Churchill Project at Soldiers Pond, just west of St. John’s. Nalcor says all work and self-isolation rules were followed, adding the risk to co-workers is low.
But PC Health critic David Brazil says the risk could’ve been eliminated altogether had the man been tested before he departed for Canada or at the moment he arrived in the province.
He says it would’ve been picked up earlier, thus reducing the risk to co-workers or anyone else the man might’ve come into contact with. Brazil says at the very least it would provide another safeguard against transmission of the virus in the province.
Premier Andrew Furey, meanwhile, notes it’s hard to argue with current numbers, adding Newfoundland and Labrador has become the envy of many.
He says it’s easy to pinpoint one or two cases but overall the process of border management and contact tracing has proven to be effective in keeping the virus in check in this province.
