Platinum and gold mines in South Africa, which together make up the world’s biggest precious metals industry, are gearing up to try and minimise a local outbreak of the coronavirus that could disrupt operations where hundreds of thousands of people work in close proximity. Companies including Anglo American Platinum and Sibanye-Stillwater are preparing a range of measures, from checking the temperature of workers before they enter narrow elevators to descend up to 2.4 miles underground to encouraging employees to find out their HIV status. They’re also distributing flu shots and changing the way statutory medical examinations are done.
