Trader Joe's: 1,250 workers tested positive for COVID-19
Trader Joe’s announced that 1,250 of its 53,000 employees tested positive for COVID-19 within the past eight months, an infection rate of about 2.4%, according to the grocery store chain.
The coronavirus also was "suspected to be a contributing factor" in two employee deaths, according to Trader Joe’s.
The grocer has 514 stores in 42 states and Washington, D.C.
The disclosure comes at the same time research has underscored the perceived risks of COVID-19 transmission in a grocery store.
The analysis published last week in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine found that 20% of 104 grocery workers tested positive at a store in Massachusetts that was not identified. Most of those workers were asymptomatic.
Employees with direct customer exposure were five times more likely to test positive for SARS-CoV-2, according to the study.
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But Trader Joe’s said it believes its COVID-19 figures are "below the average rates of positive cases in each community where we have stores," and also said 83% of 514 Trader Joe's stores nationwide have had under four reported cases.
"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 company said in a statement which noted that 95% of the employees who tested positive and completed a quarantine period have recovered and chosen to return to work.
Trader Joe's said it has continued to meet or exceed guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention while developing effective procedures to protect the health and safety of customers and employees.