Save Mart briefly closes Ceres store after two employees test positive for COVID-19
The Save Mart in Ceres was closed temporarily for cleaning Wednesday after two employees tested positive for COVID-19.
The Modesto-based supermarket chain has had to close stores in Stanislaus County twice now in the past few weeks because of workers with coronavirus. In late May the Save Mart store in Riverbank’s Crossroads shopping center closed after one employee tested positive for the virus.
The Ceres location on Whitmore Avenue closed at 2:25 p.m. Wednesday after the company was notified by two employees of their positive test results. Signs posted on the grocery store’s door said “Out of an abundance of caution, Save Mart has temporarily closed this store for professional cleaning and sanitation due to potential COVID-19 exposure.”
Save Mart spokeswoman Victoria Castro said the employees, who are not being identified to protect their privacy, last worked at the store on June 21 and June 22, respectively. Castro said shoppers inside the store at the time of the closure were allowed to complete their purchases and then staff was sent home while professional cleaning crews came in to sanitize the store.
The Save Mart Company posted a statement on the Facebook page for its Ceres store at 3:33 p.m. Wednesday confirming the positive cases and closure. It also announced the location, at 2920 E. Whitmore Ave., would reopen at 7 p.m. that same day and resume normal hours of operation.
The post said, “The store has been thoroughly disinfected, cleaned and sanitized for your safety and for the safety of our team members.”
Castro elaborated to The Bee about its two-step cleaning procedure which starts with having a professional service fog the entire store with a plant-based, human-safe disinfectant. Then a professional service sanitizes and cleans all areas touched or handled by team members and customers.
Save Mart is one of the few Central Valley companies to post public notices about positive COVID-19 cases among its employees. Rumors and reports of cases at businesses large and small continue across the Central Valley.
The supermarket in Riverbank closed temporarily for cleaning May 23, and later that same evening Save Mart posted about its closure and cleaning procedures on Facebook. The same two-step process for cleaning was used at the store at the time.
The company noted that according to the CDC, no current evidence supports transmission of COVID-19 associated with food. Castro said team members who came in contact with the employees who tested positive were placed on self-quarantine “for their safety and the safety of our customers.”
Save Mart and its sister grocery chains, FoodMaxx and Lucky, require employees to wear face coverings. Signs are also posted and announcements in the store ask customers to wear masks. Plexiglass sneeze guards were installed at all the registers and social distancing markings have been placed on the floors for customers waiting to pay in an effort to help slow the spread of the highly contagious respiratory illness.
This story was originally published June 24, 2020 at 6:29 PM.
