Costerfield mine worker tests positive to coronavirus

General manager Ryan Austerberry said the staff member was last on site last Friday.

"It's not yet confirmed if they were infectious on site," Mr Austerberry said.

The Costerfield case is linked to a case at Catherine McAuley College.

Mr Austerberry said the worker's case was confirmed on Wednesday, after being tested on Monday afternoon.

They only started showing symptoms on Tuesday night.

Mr Austerberry said close contacts at Costerfield were sent off, isolated and tested on Wednesday.

"They've all come back negative, to date," he said.

Close contacts had yet to return to the site.

Mr Austerberry said a handful of people were affected.

"Most of that office actually work from home," he said.

He said the organisation had implemented its pandemic response plan.

WorkSafe was notified, as were other authorities.

Masks became mandatory at Costerfield on Wednesday.

Mr Austerberry said WorkSafe had been out and checked the measures the organisation had in place the day prior, which it was happy with.

"They were happy with the response we did," he said.

The office in which the infected employee was working was blocked off.

Mr Austerberry said cleaning started yesterday and would be completed by the end of today.

He said the mine was still operating, but with reduced staff.

Heightened concern meant there were people staying home and getting tested.

"But it really hasn't affected operations majorly," Mr Austerberry said.

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