Co-workers fear for their lives after colleague at PE food store tests positive for Covid-19

News that one of their colleagues tested positive for Covid-19 has left staff at the Woolworths Food Access Park in Port Elizabeth rattled.

“We fear for our lives and for the lives of our loved ones,” an employee who asked not to be identified said.

Woolworths spokesperson Silindile Gumede said in a statement yesterday afternoon that the staff member, from the store along Buffelsfontein Road, was recovering in isolation.

“Our greatest priority is the health and safety of our people and as a precautionary measure, in line with our procedures for these types of incidents, our Access Park store was closed for extensive deep cleaning, and all our people who were in direct contact with the employee have been placed in self-quarantine for 14 days,” Gumede said.

The 28-year-old staff member said management had dropped the bombshell on Wednesday evening shortly after closing time.

Staff also claimed a second employee who had a fever had been sent home on Wednesday.

“They [management] then called a meeting after we closed shop on [Wednesday] evening and told us the news.

“We were then told that they would be fumigating overnight, and night staff were told to go home,” he said, adding they were told it would be work as usual yesterday.

A 40-year-old Woolworths Food employee said her greatest concerns were for any colleagues who might be high-risk as well as the many customers who shopped there.

“I have colleagues who are HIV positive, some are diabetic and others stay at home with elderly relatives. I stay with an 80-year-old for instance.

“They don’t check our temperatures when we arrive for our shifts and they gave strict instructions for us not to use gloves, saying that gloves were unsafe,” she said, adding that they had received masks only recently.

The employees said they had asked management during the meeting whether they would be tested and they were told not to worry.

A 32-year-old, who was not working on Wednesday, said a colleague had phoned her that evening in tears.

“She called me to tell me what management had announced.

“She was hysterical because she worked with the employee [who had a fever and] was sent home on Wednesday.

Despite employees saying they were not told to self-isolate, Gumede said all employees who were in direct contact with the employee had been placed in self-quarantine for 14 days.

“Our greatest priority is the health and safety of our people and as a precautionary measure our Access Park store was closed for extensive deep cleaning,” Gumede said.

“This procedure is guided by the approach of the department of health and the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD),” Gumede said, adding that they were being monitored by the company’s specialist health services provider.

Gumede, however, did not respond to a question regarding the employee who was allegedly sent home with a fever, or questions about the employees’ complaints about gloves and masks.

“Should any individuals develop any symptoms during this period, our Woolworths Covid-19 call centre will make all the necessary arrangements for testing,” Gumede said.

Municipal spokesperson Mthubanzi Mniki said the municipality’s environmental affairs department had not been made aware of the potential Covid-19 exposure at Woolworths Food.

Because someone had already tested positive, it would now be handled by the department of health.

Eastern Cape health MEC Sindiswa Gomba’s spokesperson, Judy Ngoloyi, said the department would be taking the necessary steps in tracking down everyone who had been in close contact with the employee who tested positive for Covid-19.

“A team from the department will be visiting the shop on Friday [this] morning and they will advise them on a number of things,” she said.

Ngoloyi said employees who knew that they had been in close contact with the Covid-19 patient should self-isolate and get tested at their nearest health care facility.