​Pikitup's head office in Braamfontein has been closed with immediate effect after an employee tested positive for Covid-19.

The office will remain closed for 48 hours in line with public health protocols from the National Department of Health and the World Health Organisation (WHO). During the closure, the office will be decontaminated and all staff members who were in direct contact with the affected employee will be screened and sent for self-isolation for 14 days.

“All employees stationed at the head office have been advised to work from home and will return to the office on Monday 22 June," says Mpho Moerane, the MMC for Environment and Infrastructure Services.

In another incident, Moerane says a 55-year-old Pikitup employee stationed at the Roodepoort depot has died after being infected with Covid-19.

“The employee passed away at a hospital at the weekend after it was also discovered that she was Covid-19 positive," he says.

In line with the Covid-19 guidelines, the depot will be decontaminated and all employees who had direct contact with the infected person have been advised to self-isolate. The depot will also re-open on Monday, 22 June.

Moerane says as a standard procedure, Pikitup's Health and Wellness unit will monitor all employees in quarantine and offer support and counselling.

“Employees in self-quarantine will be constantly engaged to monitor if they develop Covid-19-related symptoms while on isolation," he says.

Despite the closure of the Roodepoort depot, waste collection services in areas serviced by the facility will be provided through augmented services and garden sites in the area will be operational as employees at such sites did not interact with the deceased person, says Moerane.