La Loma, May 28, 2020
In compliance with the commitment to keep our stakeholders informed about the evolution of COVID-19 events in our operations, we inform you that:
- The employee who was confirmed positive on May 19, resident in the municipality of Chiriguaná, is satisfactorily recovering at his place of residence.
- The pertinent investigation was carried out, which determined the epidemiological timeline, possible contacts and epidemiological fence, and the potential isolation of cases.
- The investigation was carried out with the accompaniment of two expert epidemiologists, officials of the Departmental Secretariat of Health, which yielded the following conclusions and recommendations:
a. The contagion could have occurred, with a high probability of certainty, in the community during the employee’s rest period. As the minutes of the investigation conducted by the Cesar Health Secretariat say, “The timeline was reviewed, and it was considered that the probable contagion period was from May 8 to 11, which corresponds to the time that he was not working”.
b. Likewise, the investigation concluded that there were no close contacts. “After analyzing all the evidence, it was determined that the people that have had closest contact with the infected individual do not meet the definition of close community contact established by the Ministry of Health and Social Protection”.
c. However, Cesar’s Health Secretariat recommended that a population screening be carried out on employees potentially related to the case. 34 related contacts were identified, which were subjected to RT-PCR tests. Of these, one employee, resident in the municipality of Agustín Codazzi, was positive for COVID-19, and the remaining 33 were negative.
d. In addition to these 34 employees, two contractors were tested, and their results were also negative. - Currently the employee from Agustín Codazzi who tested positive is evolving satisfactorily, and the Company and the health authorities are carrying out the respective investigation, whose results we will announce as soon as it is finished.
Knowing that the virus is already circulating in most of the municipalities of the Department of Cesar, we have insisted to all our workers that we expect exceptional and responsible behavior from them, consistent with the seriousness of the situation we are experiencing. In this sense, our employees must set an example of following the authorities’ recommendations regarding the health emergency, not only while they are at work, but also when they are at their place of residence or resting.
For more information on the Company’s biosafety protocol, which is permanently updated, it can be consulted at the following address: