As mining activity expands in northern Labrador, COVID-19's 'new normal' difficult to accept for Nunatsiavut Inuit communities

Final approach on the air charter into the Voisey’s Bay mine, a fly-in/fly-out nickel, copper and cobalt mine located near Nain, Nunatsiavut, in northern Labrador. (Matthew Pike), Author provided

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, mining giant Vale shut down its Voisey’s Bay mine for three months to protect the health and well-being of its employees and the nearby Nunatsiavut Inuit communities.

With the arrival of the highly contagious Omicron COVID-19 variant and subvariants, health officials conceded that most people will likely to get COVID-19.