Whole Foods confirms multiple employees at Silver Lake location in Los Angeles were diagnosed with COVID-19
- The Whole Foods grocery store in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles is reporting multiple cases of COVID-19.
- A spokesperson for the Amazon-owned company confirmed the cases in a statement to Business Insider.
- "We've been working closely with our store Team Members, and are supporting the diagnosed Team Members, who are in quarantine," the company said.
- The Silver Lake location opened in 2016 as a "365," a slightly more affordable version of the grocery chain. Amazon killed off the brand in 2019, two years after acquiring the company.
Multiple workers at a Whole Foods in Los Angeles — its first "365" branded grocery store in the country — have tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
A spokesperson for the Amazon-owned company confirmed the previously unreported cases in a statement to Business Insider, saying that "Team Members in our Silver Lake store have been diagnosed with COVID-19."
The company declined to specify how many workers have contracted the disease, nor would it comment on the status of its infected employees, citing "respect for the privacy" of its staff. However, it does engage in contact tracing and informs other employees at its stores whenever it receives a positive test result, according to the spokesperson.
"We've been working closely with our store Team Members, and are supporting the diagnosed Team Members, who are in quarantine," the company said. "Out of an abundance of caution, the store has performed a professional deep cleaning and disinfection, on top of our current enhanced sanitation measures."
The story will not be closed, per company policy. Instead, it will "continue to operate under social distancing and crowd control measures," the spokesperson said.
The news comes amid an uptick in COVID-19 cases across Los Angeles County. Over 2,500 new cases were reported on July 13, with the rate of positive test results climbing to a 7-day average of 9%.
It is the first confirmed set of cases at Whole Foods' Silver Lake location, which opened in 2016 as a slightly more affordable version of the luxury grocery chain. The "365" branding was killed off in 2019, two years after the company was acquired by Amazon for $13.4 billion.
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