I think we need to keep grocery workers as safe as possible

but we don't have the data to say where they picked up the virus, I'm afraid.

You can't correlate a few cases with work and say it came from their work.

All potential exposures at work should be monitored. And we obviously need to watch the data. But this article lacks anything close to real data (a few cases and an alarmist headline).

Keep the workers as safe as possible. We need to care about them and be protective. But you can't make evidenced based statements without evidence.

eta my original post -because I'm shaking my head at this.

Major supermarket chains are beginning to report their first coronavirus-related employee deaths, leading to store closures and increasing anxiety among grocery workers as the pandemic intensifies across the country.

A Trader Joe’s worker in Scarsdale, N.Y., a greeter at a Giant store in Largo, Md., and two Walmart employees from the same Chicago-area store have died of covid-19, the disease the novel coronavirus causes, in recent days, the companies confirmed Monday.

PS - sometimes you can bypass the paywall by clicking on the article link then immediately hitting the esc key, it might take a few tries...

Grocery workers are beginning to die of coronavirus
At least four people – who had worked at Walmart, Trader Joe’s and Giant – have died from covid-19 in recent days
Two Walmart employees at a Chicago-area store have died of covid-19.
Two Walmart employees at a Chicago-area store have died of covid-19. (David Santiago/AP)

By
Abha Bhattarai

April 6, 2020 at 12:06 p.m. PDT
Major supermarket chains are beginning to report their first coronavirus-related employee deaths, leading to store closures and increasing anxiety among grocery workers as the pandemic intensifies across the country.

A Trader Joe’s worker in Scarsdale, N.Y., a greeter at a Giant store in Largo, Md., and two Walmart employees from the same Chicago-area store have died of covid-19, the disease the novel coronavirus causes, in recent days, the companies confirmed Monday.

Though more than 40 states have ordered nonessential businesses to close and told residents to stay home to stem the spread of the virus, supermarkets are among the retailers that remain open. Thousands of grocery employees have continued to report to work as U.S. infections and death rates continue to climb, with many reporting long shifts and extra workloads to keep up with spiking demand. Many workers say they don’t have enough protective gear to deal with hundreds of customers a day. Dozens of grocery workers have tested positive for the coronavirus in recent weeks.I

~Snip

Industry experts say the rise of worker infections and deaths will likely have a ripple effect on grocers’ ability to retain and add new workers at a time when they’re looking to rapidly hire thousands of temporary employees. Walmart, the nation’s largest grocer, is hiring 150,000 workers, while Kroger is adding more than 10,000. Many are offering an extra $2 an hour and promising masks, gloves and hand sanitizer. But finding people willing to work on the front lines for little more than the minimum wage could be an increasingly tough sell, according to supermarket analyst Phil Lempert.

And will continue to do so after this situation is over.

I read a site called "Not Always Right" - meaning that the customer is not always right - and the stories there are appalling with the abuse that retail workers (and others) are forced to endure. While many of the stories have an amusing bent, far too many show how the workers are verbally and physically abused and how management generally caves in to the demands of the customers, even when the customers should be liable for criminal charges.

I can't imagine how much worse things have gotten for the clerks during the stress and shortages that they have no control over.

she was in tears. Her children are scared for her and she is scared herself just to go to work. She reports that the customers are becoming more abusive as out of stocks continue, new restrictions on the numbers in the store are about to be implemented and stress is ratcheting up for everyone. She told me that a checker at her store was called "N.......r" by a customer, because of some slight they imagined and that other checkers are taking medical leave as they are becoming burnt out by the abuse.

Another former co-worker who is a Customer Service Manager at a different store posted on Facebook Sunday that she had four different customers that were abusive calling her names that she wouldn't call anyone.

A deli clerk with whom I worked years ago posted on her Facebook page Sunday a picture of her going in with her mask on. "Two weeks ago we were told that if we wore masks we would be sent home, now we are told if we don't we will be sent home." was her comment.

A customer called one of our associates the B word over and over. Had I been here, he would have been thrown out. The manager at the time didn't realize he could do that. It's been extremely mentally and emotionally draining every day. We were also told we couldn't wear masks. They told us today we could start wearing them tomorrow as they will be shipping to our stores.

They last worked at the store on March 26th.

They are likely having issues with supply.

The store I frequent has the employees in gloves and masks. And also they are constantly wiping things down. They also have announcements for the associates to go wash hands and wipe down critical areas.

That being said, my daughter went to another store in the chain and none of the employees were gloved/masked. Difference being, the store manager at my location is highly competent.