Andrew Whelan– a spokesman for Albertsons Cos., which owns Safeway– said 3%of the approximately 1,700 workers at the Tracy center in San Joaquin County had checked favorable for the virus, and additional health and safety measures are now in location.
The center supplies groceries to about 300 stores throughout Northern California, Nevada and Hawaii.
” We continue to enhance with all associates the value of social distancing as the most efficient tool we have to fight the spread of COVID-19,” Whelan stated in a statement Friday.
Teamsters Resident 439, which represents employees at the Safeway center, said the employee who died was a long time worker named Pedro Zuniga.
Jose Valencia, Zuniga’s son, informed the Modesto Bee that his father lived in Turlock and was 52 years old.
He said Zuniga was a devout Catholic and passionate soccer fan who also enjoyed to prepare.
” I hope people take this seriously,” Valencia informed the paper.
Zuniga’s family has set up an online fundraising page to assist cover funeral expenditures.
” Our hearts are heavy, and our thoughts are with that associate’s family,” Whelan stated.
” Individuals work in close quarters in these warehouses, and we’re not sure at the starting people were taking the proper precautions,” he said.
When the pandemic began, Safeway was first grocery chain offering wipes and hand sanitizer to workers, Aloise said.
Whelan said enhanced health measures were now in location at the distribution center, including thermal temperature readings and a health screening before anyone gets in the building.
Masks are likewise to be used by all associates, he said. The center likewise has actually adjusted lunch and break times to maintain social distancing, placed distancing signs and markers near time clocks, eliminated some break-room furnishings, installed additional hand sanitizer stations, and implemented an enhanced cleaning and disinfection schedule.
Whelan noted that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had stated there was no proof to suggest that food produced in the U.S. could send COVID-19 and that, currently, “there is no evidence of food or food product packaging being associated with transmission of COVID-19”
” We deeply value all that our associates are doing throughout this extraordinary time, and will continue to do all we can to guarantee their health and wellness while also supplying important services to the neighborhood,” Whelan stated.
Gov. Gavin Newsom discussed the outbreak Thursday throughout a news conference where he likewise revealed he had signed an executive order impacting companies in the food sector. The order needs those that use 500 or more individuals to offer 2 weeks of additional paid authorized leave for full-time workers who contract COVID-19 or are exposed to the virus and require to isolate themselves.
” We have an example in San Joaquin Valley right now at a really large food distribution center where we have 51 positives, one person has passed away, in a center that has over 1,700 workers,” he said.
There have been 369 verified coronavirus infections and 17 deaths in San Joaquin County given that the pandemic started, according to health authorities.
Times personnel writer Taryn Luna and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
