Trader Joe’s says 1,250 workers tested COVID-19-positive, 2 died, nationwide since March
More than 1,200 Trader Joe’s employees have tested positive for COVID-19 at its locations nationwide and two workers have died since March, officials at the Southern California-based grocery chain announced Thursday, the Los Angeles Daily News is reporting.
The 1,250 workers represent a little more than 2% of the chain’s 53,000 employees nationwide. The coronavirus was said to have contributed to the two employees’ deaths, Trader Joe’s officials said.
Corporate officials did not say which locations had workers who tested positive for the virus, but in a statement cited by the Daily News, officials at the Monrovia-based grocery chain said nearly a quarter of its stores had no reported positive COVID-19 cases among employees, with zero to four reports among workers at 83% of locations.
Nearly all — 95% — of Trader Joe’s employees who tested positive and were quarantined have since recovered and are back at work, officials at the grocery chain said.
Employees’ infection rate during the pandemic is about 2.4%, the Daily News reported, citing the statement.
“We believe that the results in virtually all areas are below the average rates of positive cases in each community where we have stores,” the statement read.
Trader Joe’s has 514 stores in 42 states including California, along with the District of Columbia.
“The health and safety practices and procedures that have been put in place, and that continually evolve, have been effective because of the great work done by our crew members in every store, every day. We appreciate our crew members’ diligence and our customers’ patience as we work each day to make our stores safe for everyone,” said Jon Basalone, Trader Joe’s President of Stores, in the statement, Los Angeles television station CBS2 reported.
Locally, Trader Joe’s has locations in Sacramento, Placer and Yolo counties.
Trader Joe’s has limited the numbers of people shopping in their stores, installed Plexiglas barriers at checkout stands and suspended offers of free samples of new products, among other safety measures designed to curb the virus’ spread.
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