SowetanLive reports that fear has gripped a Limpopo village after 19 miners in the area tested positive for the deadly Covid-19.  The mineworkers, employees at Impala Platinum’s (Implats’) Marula platinum mine in Diphale village, tested positive to the virus - prompting the mine to shut down operations.  

According to Limpopo health MEC Phophi Ramathuba, this was the highest number of positive cases to be recorded in a day in the province.  One of the mineworkers said he was worried that some of his colleagues who travelled from other provinces could be spreading the virus at work.  "I stay in the village and there were no cases of the virus before the mines opened. It is very difficult to keep social distancing in the mine and in production, we use same equipment," he observed.  Implats spokesperson Johan Theron said the mineworkers were detected following stringent and comprehensive screening, testing and tracing protocols.  He indicated:  "Implats has identified 19 positive cases during the week, all of them asymptomatic. Of these cases, 14 were identified as the result of proactive testing of employees returning to work.  None of these employees had started work at the mine.  Of the remaining five, one case was identified as a primary contact and the remaining four were identified through contact tracing."  Some residents are worried that the operation of mines will turn the mining town of Burgersfort into an epicenter and urged the government to trace all those who made contact with the infected miners to test them, particularly in the villages.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Peter Ramothwala at SowetanLive

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