AngloGold Ashanti’s Mponeng mine in South Africa has been temporarily shut down after 164 employees tested positive for the deadly COVID-19 virus.
The gold mine was shut down when South Africa confirmed its first case in March. But was later opened to operate at a 50% capacity.
The company, in a statement said, “it had conducted 650 tests at Mponeng since detecting the first case of the virus there last week, and 164 employees had tested positive with only a handful of tests left to process.”
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“As a precautionary step, and after discussions with the regulator, operations have been temporarily halted on a voluntary basis,” the statement said.
This decision, they believe, would allow the mine to complete contact tracing, deep clean the workplace and other key infrastructure.
Workplace infections remain a big headache for health authorities, as the contagion spread fast among workers. In Ghana, a fish-processing factory in Tema recorded a swell of coronavirus cases that compelled it to be shut down temporarily.
162 more infected, as Tema fish factory’s COVID-19 cases jump to 695
