Minerals Council SA: Gold mining hardest-hit with Covid-19
The Minerals Council South Africa, the body responsible for representing some of the country’s largest miners, says the sector has 1229 confirmed cases of Covid-19.
The council, together with mining unions, briefed Parliament’s mineral resources and energy committee on the sector’s Covid-19 efforts on Friday.
Its head of health Dr Thuthula Balfour told MPs that to date some 500 people have recovered.
#COVID19SA | The currents stats on #CoronavirusInSA in the mining sector. pic.twitter.com/M54j1ZE1wf
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Balfour said the average rate of testing in the sector is above that of South Africa as a whole.
"Another thing which is of note is the testing rate per population. Globally - for instance - the testing rate is about 1,5% of the population are tested, in South Africa this figure is about 1,98%, in mining it is 2,7%.
"We are just illustrating the fact that we are testing more than the average.”
She said the gold mining sector is the hardest-hit.
"Most cases currently in the gold sector, 584 cases, followed by 502 cases in the platinum sector.
Sixty-seven in coal. Coal has actually been lagging behind for some time and in the last week have experienced a number of cases.”