Central SA
#CoronavirusNW: #Covid19 cases increase in mining sector─── LUCKY NKUYANE 05:00 Fri, 29 May 2020
The increase of coronavirus cases has now started to take its toll within the mining sector in the North West as 75 miners have been confirmed positive.
On Thursday, MEC Madoda Sambatha announced that a total of 57 mineworkers at Sibanye Stillwater in Rustenburg tested positive. He says Harmony Gold mine in Matlosana, which includes Orkney, now has 18 confirmed cases.
Sambatha on Tuesday also announced that five miners from the Eastern Cape and one from Gauteng, who recently returned to the province's Impala Mine to resume their work, have also been confirmed positive. So far the province has 88 active cases after 45 patients recovered and one death was reported from 134 confirmed Covid-19 cases.
He says the mining industry's exposure to Covid-19 is becoming a serious concern. "Up until a week ago, we have never had more than ten people testing positive at a time," Sambatha adds.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Mkhize on Thursday night also announced that South Africa now has a total of 27 403 confirmed Covid-19 cases. Mkhize further announced that the death toll linked to Covid-19 has jumped to 577 deaths while 14 370 recoveries have been made countrywide.
OFM News
