Mining sector not Covid-19 epicenter, says Minerals Council

The Minerals Council South Africa has come out all guns blazing against suggestions that the mining sector has become the country’s Covid-19 epicenter.

To date, there are 679 confirmed coronavirus cases in the sector. 

The council's Alan Fine says they take issue with suggestions from some sectors of government that there is a high prevalence of Covid-19 at mines. 

"We decided we needed to put out a statement to clarify what the numbers mean and indicate.”

Fine says the number of positive cases is directly linked to the stringent testing and screening measures in the sector.

"As more and more workers are returning and operations are ratcheting up to normal we have put up a range of measures including the screening of every single mineworker each day they report to work.

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"This means the industry is picking up as rapidly as possible any cases that can be diagnosed because everyone who has symptoms related to Covid-19 is immediately sent for testing and most mines have sophisticated training and tracing systems."