NGO Rejoinder
Main concerns about Equinox Gold's response to measures taken with workers to prevent the spread of the coronavirus
- The mining company summoned its workers, who came from other regions and states, without having adequate facilities for their stay and shelter, while they were being PCR tested. Their call was hasty, to the extent that around 500 people attended the first call, without having any accommodations. The community of Carrizalillo did not accept the proposal to offer them shelter, fearing that several people would not present symptoms, but that they would be carriers of the coronavirus. Their fear was founded because the results confirmed their health status...
- When Covid-19 positive workers were returned home, the responsibility to protect themselves was left to on their own, without any commitment from the company to protect the workers and their families. Therefore, there is an urgent need for further testing, not only of all unionized and subcontracted workers, but of all inhabitants of the three communities, to identify the size of the contagion and to contain its spread.