TORONTO -- Longo's says two of its employees, including a Grocery Gateway driver, have tested positive for COVID-19.
In a written statement issued Friday, the grocery chain said a driver from the Grocery Gateway division tested positive for the virus on March 25 and a team member at the company’s Weston and Rutherford roads location tested positive on March 26.
The infected employees are “taking all required steps” outlined by public health officials, the company said, and staff are working closely with public health to track down the known points of contact for each of the infected staff members.
Those individuals who were in close contact with the two team members will be told to self-isolate, the statement added, and employees who have been directed to stay home will be paid during that time.
The Weston Road location has been shut down until Saturday morning so staff can "further investigate the situation" and "implement appropriate measures," including thoroughly sanitizing the facility.
The driver's delivery vehicle has been cleaned "based on the advice and guidance of public health," the company noted.
"As an essential service, Longo’s stores have remained proudly open and our delivery trucks on the road so that our communities have access to the food and necessities that they require during COVID-19," the company’s CEO Anthony Longo said.
"As a family business, there is nothing that takes precedence over the wellbeing of our team members and our guests and we continue to take significant measures to ensure everyone's safety."
The new cases at Longo's come one day after officials confirmed an Oshawa Superstore employee died of COVID-19.
The man, who was in his 40s, was the fifteenth person to die of the virus in Ontario.
There are currently 993 cases of COVID-19 in the province, including eight clinically-determined recoveries and 18 deaths.
