The Wawa store at 310 Larry Holmes Drive in Easton, Northampton County, was temporarily closed for cleaning Friday after an employee who recently worked there tested positive for COVID-19.
A Northampton County convenience store is temporarily closed after an employee who recently worked in the store tested positive for COVID-19, the company said Friday.
In an update posted on Wawa.com, officials said the Wawa store at 310 Larry Holmes Drive in Easton is currently being cleaned and disinfected.
The employee was last present in the store on April 11, the post indicated.
“It is our policy to proactively close our stores for professional deep cleaning and disinfecting after being notified of an associate with a confirmed case of COVID-19,” Wawa says on its site. “We will work with the local Department of Health regarding notifications to any of our associates who may have had close contact with the associate to take necessary steps to follow CDC-recommended guidelines to self-quarantine for the appropriate period of time. We will do everything we can to support our impacted associates, including providing paid time off through our relief plan, and take all necessary steps to monitor, safeguard and protect all our associates and customers.”
Associates in a number of other area Wawa stores have recently tested positive for COVID-19, including stores in Fountain Hill, Lehigh County, and Hilltown Township, Bucks County.
The company has implemented a number of new safety measures to help stop the spread of the disease and in compliance with social distancing requirements as well as continuously evolving state laws.
Among them are the addition of Plexiglass “sneezeguard” barriers at registers, placing limits on the number of customers permitted in stores at one time, eliminating self-service beverage and food selections, and providing personal protective equipment for staff.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health Friday reported another 1,706 confirmed cases of COVID-19, which brought the state total to 29,441. The confirmation of another 49 deaths from the disease brings that statewide total to 756.
The novel coronavirus is particularly dangerous for elderly people, and many of the deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus have occurred in the state’s nursing homes.
In Northampton County, there have been 27 deaths from COVID-19 out of 1,335 cases. A total of 4,550 people in the county have tested negative for the virus, the Department of Health reported Friday.
