Nineteen employees at the Sam’s Club distribution center in Worcester have tested positive for the coronavirus, city officials said Tuesday.
“It looks like we have another cluster at the Sam’s Club distribution center in Worcester,” City Manager Edward Augustus Jr. said. “That facility is not open to the public, so it is just Sam’s Club employees there.”
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Back in late April, 81 employees at the Walmart Supercenter in the same shopping plaza tested positive for coronavirus. The store reopened in May. Sam’s Club employees were also tested at that time and nine were found to be positive for COVID-19.
Since that time, city officials said Sam’s Club has set up a 24-hour nursing presence.
“They’ve really stepped up since the last outbreak,” Augustus said.
Worcester’s health department stepped in and shutdown the Walmart location after 23 employees tested positive for coronavirus. Now all of the 400 essential employees need to be tested or retested before the store can open.
City officials were down at the facility on Tuesday talking to Sam’s Club management. The employees there are considered essential because the distribution center fulfills online orders for food and other necessities that are delivered to people’s homes.
“They feel like they’re doing everything they should,” Augustus said. “They’ve followed the right protocols.”
Worcester reported 15 new cases of the coronavirus on Tuesday, bringing the city’s total to 4,000.
