What Happens When Workers Get Sick?

We’re all running a bit scared right now, especially grocery retailers who must adopt best practices to mitigate the risk of employees and customers contracting the coronavirus, as well as prevent its spread when an employee tests positive. But what are those practices? While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) offer guidelines, there’s no official federal road map for speeding away from COVID-19.

In the past few weeks, the industry has focused a great deal on preventing the spread of the virus by supplying its workers with face masks and gloves, installing Plexiglas shields at checkout, limiting the number of shoppers inside stores, taking the temperatures of employees—and in some cases shoppers—and much more. But there’s a new challenge emerging, and it’s accelerating every day.

What is the best way for grocers to move forward after an in-store employee tests positive?

Trader Joe’s is one of the few grocers to temporarily close its stores for at least one day when an employee tests positive for the coronavirus, as well as proactively communicate those closures to the public. In its latest round of temporary closures announced April 6, the Monrovia, Calif.-based retailer said three stores in New York, two stores in Philadelphia, and a store in Metairie, La., would all close for one day this month.

“At Trader Joe’s, there is nothing more important to us than the health and safety of our crew members and customers. We believe in being proactive and transparent in addressing issues, and we value information and clear communication,” according to Trader Joe’s website.

“With this in mind, we have temporarily closed some stores related to coronavirus (COVID-19) concerns, including for additional precautionary cleaning and sanitization. We have made sure all crew members at the respective locations have been informed and understand the steps to take to best safeguard the health of their communities. While a store is closed, Trader Joe’s pays all crew members for their scheduled shifts.”

But the majority of grocers with in-store employees who have tested positive opt to clean up while remaining open, and that may be just what the doctor would order.

“It doesn’t concern me at all if a store doesn’t close [after an employee tests positive],” said Dr. Hilary Thesmar, head of food product safety for FMI-The Food Industry Association, Arlington, Va. While this particular virus is more contagious than we’re used to, it’s also easy to destroy with alcohol- and chlorine-based products, she added.

What’s more, she added, many of the same safe-food handling practices already in place, will protect against the coronavirus. “Cleaning and disinfecting are effective, you just need to clean human-contact surfaces [such as door handles, touchscreens, etc.] the way you clean foodservice surfaces,” said Thesmar.

And the good news for retail foodservice is that there’s been no evidence of the coronavirus being transmitted through food. “The virus doesn’t replicate in food,” said Thesmar. “This is a very contagious respiratory virus—it needs to be transmitted through the nose, eyes mouth and throat into the lungs. If it’s consumed, you’re not going to get it. It’s not gastrointestinal.”

But the different ways that grocers are navigating these uncharted waters—closing stores to clean after a worker tests positive or keeping them open, providing Plexiglas partitions at checkout or not—speaks to the lack of federally mandated protocols for grocery stores operating as essential service providers during a pandemic.  

Lisa Sedlar, founder and CEO of Portland, Ore.-based Green Zebra Market, recently told WGB that she is “concerned that there is not a specific set of guidelines for grocers to follow, which is kind of surprising given that we are often referred to as ‘essential service providers.’ "

“While we all support taking care of healthcare workers’ needs first, of course, it’s been alarming that with grocers’ status as essential service providers, not one person has reached out to me or any of my other grocery leader friends to say, ‘How can we help protect your staff and your customers?’ Thousands and thousands of people come in and out of our stores every day, and we are making it up the best we can as we go,” she continued. 

A Healthcare Worker Elucidates From the Epicenter

“For the first time in a while, I’m not scared,” Dr. David Price of NewYork-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center told friends and family in a recent video address. In the video, which has since gone viral to the tune of some 5 million views, the doctor discusses how the virus is transmitted, how to protect oneself and why consumers shouldn’t be afraid of the grocery store or delivery services, as long as they are vigilant.

“In New York City, we’re receiving food from delivery men. We have to go outside to the grocery store [at] a time when we’re all really scared,” he said. And what makes it worse, is that shoppers think that the person standing next to them is somehow going to harm them or their family.

“But when you know that the only way you’re going to get this disease is if your hands are dirty and … you touch your face … [or] if you are way too close to that person, that becomes incredibly liberating," Price sad. "All of the sudden, the person at the store is not your enemy, they’re someone who is going through this with you. And the delivery person is not your enemy, they’re a hero.”