Manitoba Hydro is scaling back work and suspending travel to one of its biggest sites in the province, in an effort to help reduce the spread of COVID-19.
Hydro announced they will suspend all operations of the Keeyask project construction site by the end of the day on Saturday, March 21.
President and CEO Jay Grewal says the reduction of personnel follows guidelines from Manitoba Health and could last anywhere from four to eight weeks.
Approximately 600 supervisory, construction and support staff have volunteered to remain on-site, and will focus on achieving the in-service date for the hydroelectric station’s first two generating units.
Those people will work with increased preventative measures outlined by a Keeyask-specific pandemic plan.
That includes those showing symptoms receiving treatment from an on-site nurse, and anyone requiring further treatment will be immediately isolated and moved off-site when safe.
Hydro is also introducing increased cleaning protocols, applying social distancing recommendations by suspending gym classes and intramurals, and providing take-out meals only from the site’s dining hall.
The 695-Megawatt generating station is located around 725 km north of Winnipeg on the lower Nelson River.
It’s currently scheduled to be completed by 2021.
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