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Two Metro Vancouver grocery store workers test positive for COVID-19

The stores' parent company is publishing all test-positive cases with location information
safeway-king-edward-vancouver
A pharmacy employee at the Safeway at King Edward and Oak St in Vancouver has tested positive for COVID-19. Photo via Google Maps

Two employess of grocery stores in Metro Vancouver operated by Sobeys Inc. have confirmed cases of COVID-19.

On March 28, a franchisee employee of the Fresh Co store at No. 3 Road and Williams in Richmond tested positive for COVID-19, according to information released by Sobeys Inc. That employee last worked on March 26. 

Three days later, on March 31, a pharmacy employee at the Safeway at King Edward Mall (990 King Edward Ave. W) in Vancouver tested positive for the virus. The employee had worked that same day.

Sobeys Inc. makes all test-positive information available to the public via their corporate website.

“Where required, we will communicate with customers who have shopped in the impacted location, with store signage, outlining our steps to manage the situation. Out of an abundance of caution, with each case that is reported, we will deep clean and sanitize the store location, " says the site.

“We will always do everything we can to support our teammates and ensure their safety."

Among the safety measures currently in place at Sobeys stores across the country include plexiglass cashier shields; reduced store hours; hand-washing every 15-minutes; taped-off spaces for customers to use when lining up; and encouraging workers who feel ill to stay home.

Sobeys Inc. owns a range of grocery stores across Canada, which include, among others, Sobeys, IGA and IGA extra, Safeway, Thrifty Foods and FreshCo.

According to the list, employees at stores in Quebec, Ontario, Alberta and Newfoundland and Labrador have also tested positive for COVID-19.

With files from Kirsten Clarke/Richmond News