(WXYZ) — Five Michigan grocery workers have passed away from COVID-19 complications.
Four grocery workers from Kroger locations across metro Detroit have died from the virus, as well as one Meijer employee in Michigan. Meijer did not specify whether its employee worked in the metro Detroit area.
According to a release from a Korger spokesperson, the employees worked at stores in Northville (425 North Center), Troy (3125 John R), Grosse Pointe (16919 Kercheval), and Livonia (30935 5 Mile Rd) in Michigan.
We are mourning along with their families during this extraordinarily difficult time. We are coordinating with local health departments and taking steps to support and safeguard our associates and customers. We are making mental health and grief counselors available to support our associates. We continue to employ rigorous sanitation and physical distancing procedures in all of our facilities.
Kroger says it is taking these additional safety measures:
- Enhancing our daily sanitation practices, including increasing the frequency of cleaning commonly used areas such as cashier stations, self-checkouts, credit card terminals, food service counters and shelves.
- Encouraging our associates to wear masks and gloves if they wish to do so.
- Installing plexiglass partitions at check lane, pharmacy and Starbucks locations to further limit close interpersonal contact between associates and customers during this time.
- Adding floor decals and signage to promote safe physical distancing. This includes One-Way aisles.
- Adopting limits to the number of customers entering our stores at one time.
Meijer released this statement regarding the employee's death:
We are deeply saddened to confirm that we have recently lost our first Meijer team members as a result of complications due to COVID-19. Out of respect for the team members and their families, we will not share any additional details and ask that you respect their privacy during this difficult time.
Our team members are the heart of our stores. Every member of our team is a member of the Meijer family and this loss is deeply felt by all of us, especially those at the impacted stores. We share our profound condolences with the team members’ families and friends as they process this loss during these extraordinarily difficult times.
We have communicated this information to our team members at the affected stores and are providing crisis counseling to those who may need it as well as ongoing support through our Employee Assistance Program. We continue to follow detailed cleaning and screening protocols to ensure our stores are as safe as possible for our team members and customers.
As of Saturday afternoon, state health officials have reported 1,392 deaths and 23,993 cases of COVID-19 in Michigan.
Additional Coronavirus information and resources:
Read our daily Coronavirus Live Blog for the latest updates and news on coronavirus.
Click here for a page with resources including a COVID-19 overview from the CDC, details on cases in Michigan, a timeline of Governor Gretchen Whitmer's orders since the outbreak, coronavirus' impact on Southeast Michigan, and links to more information from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, the CDC and the WHO.
View a global coronavirus tracker with data from Johns Hopkins University.
Find out how you can help metro Detroit restaurants struggling during the pandemic.
See all of our Helping Each Other stories.
See complete coverage on our Coronavirus Continuing Coverage page.