Miningmx reports that Impala Platinum (Implats) has confirmed 19 positive cases of Covid-19 at and around its Marula joint venture in Limpopo.  

As a result, the company said it would not recall employees due to report to Marula this week in terms of the rotational shift cycles it operated at the mine whereby two teams alternate a week at work and a week off.  “The only people on the mine on Monday will be essential service people required to maintain infrastructure and conduct the required health and safety work,” said spokesman Johan Theron.  Of the 19 cases, which were asymptomatic, 14 were identified as a result of proactive testing of employees returning to work.  Therefore, none of these employees started work at the mine.  Of the remaining five, one case was identified as a primary contact and the other four were identified through contract tracing.  Two of the active cases had recently returned from the Eastern Cape.  “Significantly, 17 of the confirmed cases reside locally, suggesting the prevalence of Covid-19 among local communities is far higher than the company’s initial estimates had indicated,” Implats indicated in a statement over the weekend.  The positive cases also included a local health provider and four mine-employed health providers working at the mine clinic.  This facility was immediately closed for sterilisation and testing of medical staff and all primary contacts, said Implats.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by David McKay at Miningmx
• Read too, Implats suspends operations at Marula mine after detecting 19 positive Covid-19 cases, at Mining Weekly
• And also, Quarantine everyone, says Limpopo health MEC after mineworkers test positive for Covid-19, at News24

Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page