S.African mine temporarily shuts after virus infects 19 workers

• "Implats has identified 19 positive cases during the week, all of them asymptomatic," the firm said in a statement.

JOHANNESBURG: South African platinum mine Implats has temporarily suspended operations after 19 workers tested positive for coronavirus, the company said Saturday.

The cases at the Marula mine in northern Limpopo province were detected through routine screening and testing.

"Implats has identified 19 positive cases during the week, all of them asymptomatic," the firm said in a statement.

None of the affected miners had returned underground since the company resumed operations after the government partially eased a ban imposed on mining to fight the coronavirus outbreak.

The mine will not operate next week "to enable it to first complete all relevant health and safety protocols" including quarantining detected cases, sanitising and conducting contact tracing and testing, Implats said.

The mine employs around 4,360 people, but only 2,070 reported for duty in the past week in compliance with government regulations capping mining operations at 50 percent to control the spread of coronavirus.

South Africa is the world's top platinum miner.

Mining accounted for eight percent of the country's GDP in 2018 and acts as a major source of foreign exchange.

The industry is also a major employer, with more than 450,000 people on the payroll.

Africa's most industrialised economy has the highest number of recorded coronavirus cases on the continent.

More than 13,500 people have tested positive for the disease and 247 of those have died.