Three more Cape supermarkets close temporarily after staff member tests positive

Three more supermarkets in the Western Cape have closed their doors temporarily for deep cleaning after a staff member tested positive for Covid-19.

Two of the stores are located in the Zevenwacht area, near Kuils River in Cape Town, while the third is in Somerset West.

The Shoprite group confirmed on Wednesday there was a case at its Checkers Zevenwacht store.

“After one of our colleagues at Checkers Zevenwacht tested positive for Covid-19, we closed this store and brought in a professional decontamination company to sanitise and deep clean the store,” the group said in a statement.

“We have informed the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) and the Department of Health.

“An employee screening programme, supported by the company’s mobile clinic, was immediately put into place. Those employees who had close contact with the infected person are now self-quarantining for 14 days.”

The store will be reopened in consultation with the provincial Department of Health, according to the statement.

In the same area, a Superspar in Zevenwacht also confirmed that it had staff members test positive.

“After testing all our staff, some of the test results have started to come back,” the Spar store said in a statement on Facebook.

“We have now received further positive tests and our store will be closed for decontamination for the remainder of Wednesday.

“All staff on shift will now self-isolate. Our store will re-open with our reserve shift on Thursday at 08:00.”

In Somerset West, a Kwikspar at Lion’s Square confirmed on Thursday that a staff member had tested positive for the virus.

“Our staff are very important to us. Please know that we are supporting this staff member and will also be debriefing and supporting our management team and staff going forward,” it said on its Facebook page.

The staff member had last been in the store on Monday and had not been back since. The store had previously split their teams as a precautionary measure before the news.

It was suspected the virus had been contracted from a source outside of the store.

The store was closed on Thursday and would not reopen until it received the all-clear from the provincial health department.

News24 previously reported cases at Pick n Pay in Somerset West, Shoprite stores in Athlone and Bothasig, and Checkers at Bayside Mall in Table View over the last two weeks.

Last week, Western Cape head of health Dr Keith Cloete stressed the importance of only going to the shops when absolutely necessary, News24 previously reported.

During a digital press conference last Thursday, Cloete said many new infections were transmitted at supermarkets.

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