SAN JOSE — A coronavirus outbreak linked to a San Jose Trader Joe’s has grown to eight cases, the company said.
Four more workers at the 5269 Prospect Rd. in Westgate Center store tested positive for COVID-19 last week, according to spokesperson Kenya Friend-Daniel, after four cases were initially recorded around July 10th.
The latest sick employees had last worked in the store between July 8th and 13th and received results last Wednesday and Thursday. None had worked in the store after a deep-cleaning was performed on the 13th, Friend-Daniel said.
Although one of the new cases has been linked to the previous four — who were infected when coming into “close contact” with one another outside work — it’s not clear where the other three picked up the illness.
A Trader Joe’s employee at a different South Bay location who was not authorized to speak on the matter previously told this news organization that managers from other stores, including the employee’s own workplace, had been asked to fill in at the Westgate location because of staffing shortages. Friend-Daniel confirmed that employees have been asked to fill in, but said “that’s something we definitely wouldn’t do if we felt like it was unsafe.”
Another 11 employees at the Westgate location have tested negative for the virus; others are quarantining while they await results.
The outbreak is one of several to have hit grocery store workers across the Bay Area, including in Oakland and San Jose. Three employees at the Sprouts Farmers Market in East San Jose have also tested positive in recent weeks, the company confirmed this week. The employees at the store located at 1771 E. Capitol Expressway tested positive on June 27, June 29 and July 12.
Sprouts spokesperson Kalia Pang said that the store informed other team members that may have come into close contact with the infected workers, asking them to self-quarantine and conducting “extensive cleaning and sanitizing of the entire store.”
Maggie Angst contributed to this report.
