Woolworths and Bunnings staff test positive for coronavirus
Woolworths and Bunnings Warehouse employees have tested positive for coronavirus in Victorian hotspots.
On Monday, Victoria recorded its highest number of coronavirus cases in a single day and two deaths, as it was announced NSW would be shutting its border to Victorians.
In a statement to Yahoo News Australia, a Woolworths spokesperson confirmed a staff member from the West Footscray Customer Fulfilment Centre (CFC) had tested positive for coronavirus, reiterating the supermarket giant’s top priority is the health and safety of team members.
“We’re continuing to make contact with our CFC team members and will provide our full support to those required to self-isolate at home in line with the advice from the Health Department,” the Woolworths spokesperson said.
“As a food retailer, we have very high standards of cleaning and hygiene across all our sites.
“As a precautionary measure the CFC received a detailed deep clean overnight on 4th and 5th July.”
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Yahoo News Australia understands CFC’s, satisfy online orders, opposed to restocking stores like Distribution Centres.
“As a result of the additional clean on Sunday night we cancelled online delivery orders out of the West Footscray CFC this morning. We would like to apologise to our customers for the inconvenience,” the spokesperson said.
“We will continue to ensure all relevant health and safety measures are in place regarding testing and social distancing to protect our team members.”
West Footscray is one of the suburbs which has been instructed by the state government to stay at home, to stop the spread of the virus.
Due to the outbreak in Victoria, 36 suburbs have been placed into lockdown for four weeks.
Bunnings confirms coronavirus case in Melbourne store
Bunnings Chief Operating Officer Debbie Poole confirmed one worker at a Melbourne store had tested positive for coronavirus on Monday.
“We have been advised that a team member at our Craigieburn store has tested positive for COVID- 19,” Ms Poole said in a statement.
“We are following government health advice and our absolute focus is the health and safety of our team members and customers.”
The statement said employees who were in close contact with the worker who tested positive have been isolating at home. Craigieburn is also one of the suburbs in lockdown until the end of the month.
Ms Poole said Bunnings had been taking “extra steps” over the past couple of months to keep the team and customers safe amid the pandemic – including “deep cleaning all stores daily as well as undertaking regular cleans throughout the day”.
“As a precaution we have conducted an additional deep clean of the [Craigieburn] store, and we have briefed our team and we’re providing support and guidance,” Ms Poole added.
On Facebook, Ros Spence, the MP for Yuroke, which represents Craigieburn, said a manager at local KFC restaurant had also tested positive.
“The Victorian Department of Health & Human Services have been working closely with KFC, and all team members who have come into close contact with this manager are now self-isolating,” Ms Spence wrote.
Abattoir employees test positive
Two workers at separate Victorian meatworks are among the state's record daily coronavirus cases, weeks after the Cedar Meats cluster.
One new case has been confirmed at the JBS abattoir in Brooklyn, the health department said on Monday.
All staff at the site are being tested with the department's outbreak squad to visit on Monday to make sure public health actions are taken.
Another fresh case has been identified at the Pacific Meats abattoir in Thomastown, according to the department.
The site has been closed, and all workers will be tested.
"Don't take this disease lightly. If you feel unwell with any symptoms of coronavirus, however mild, you should stay home and get tested," Victoria's Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said.
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It comes after a cluster of infected workers at Cedar Meats in Brooklyn and their close contacts ballooned to 111 cases and kept the premises shut for weeks.
Cedar Meats resumed full operations on May 28 with staff medically cleared to work by the department.
Over Saturday, employees at a popular Melbourne market were two of the 108 new cases of coronavirus revealed in Victoria.
The two workers are vendors from the Preston Market, north of the city, and are understood to have not had close contact with customers while infectious.
They were among a host of cases not linked to existing outbreaks, including three cases in emergency department workers at Northern Hospital, Epping, and a teacher at Debney Meadows Primary School.
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