“Human rights group claims Hudbay Peru COVID-19 outbreak, company says cases not confirmed” – 1 June 2020

…A report from a South American activist group claims several positive tests of COVID-19 have been found at Hudbay’s Constancia mine in Peru…The report claims that at least 18 workers at the Constancia facility tested positive for COVID-19 and that the company “did not take adequate measures to protect its workers and the general population and did not provide information about the outbreak to local health authorities despite its claims to be ‘responsible’,” according to a translation of the report… “After 45 days of operations, it was made public through local authorities that a case of COVID-19 had been identified in the Constancia mining unit, before which the company in its statement dated April 26 denies said complaint, affirming that ‘currently, there are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in our Constancia mining unit. None’”… When reached for comment, a Hudbay spokesperson said so-called “quick tests” for COVID-19 had been administered to employees in the regions of Arequipa and Cusco under supervision of health authorities…A state of emergency was declared by the Peruvian government March 15 along with a shutdown of all non-essential businesses, but Hudbay was not required to close Constancia by government decree as an essential business. The Constancia mine, according to Hudbay, received approval to reopen May 14 from Peru’s national mining ministry… In the region of Cusco, where the Constancia mine is located, 793 cases of COVID-19 have been reported as of May 23…Around 750 full-time Hudbay staff work at the mine. All Hudbay employees at the mine facility are Peruvian-based, but non-Peruvian outside contractors often work at the mine site…