Some 511 health workers in South Africa have tested positive for the coronavirus pandemic, with two fatalities among them, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said on Wednesday.
Speaking during a visit to the Job Shimakana Tabane Hospital in Rustenburg mining city, Mkhize said two of the infected health personnel have died from the disease while 149 others have recovered and 26 workers are hospitalised.
“We have seen the numbers increasing. We said that many of us will get the infection. Our role has been to slow down the rate at which the infection gets to us,” he said.
Noting the city’s mining activities, Mkhize advised the sector that “all mine workers must be screened. It is more helpful to be proactive. We can save staff and the whole mine if we screen miners.”
“We encourage all mining companies to work with the provincial government on this,” he said, noting the increase in the number of people testing positive for the virus in the area.
He was accompanied for the visit by Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe who received personal protective equipment from mining giant Sibanye-Stillwater and Old Mutual, multinational insurers as part of the firms’ support to efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19.
South Africa, in its first week of what it calls Level 4 of the lockdown ease, has opened up a few industries that saw some 1.5 million workers in mining and agriculture reporting for work as the country confirms 7,572 cases and 148 deaths from the disease.
NM/jn/APA