If an employee at a supermarket is diagnosed with COVID-19, will that store need to shut down?

I suspect not. I don’t know for sure. The CDC protocol for healthcare personnel who have been exposed (low exposure) is for symptomatic employees to stay home. The rest are asked to self monitor for signs or symptoms (checking temp 2x per day), and wear masks while continuing to work. Obviously, it’s important for healthcare personnel to continue working. Having groceries is pretty essential too.

I don’t think you understand the implications in the word pandemic. How many employees are there in an average supermarket, and how many supermarkets do you think will emerge from this without a single sick employee? The supermarkets will almost certainly remain in operation even if they must be staffed and operated by the National Guard. To begin with, they are the places equipped to sort and distribute food. This initial panic will pass. But closing down supermarkets in cities would be the quickest path to stampede and disorder that I can imagine. In this regard it is more than essential that those bare shelves be restocked in record haste, lest people get the impression they must remain bare.

I have had so many customers cough in my vicinity in the deli I work at. The employees aren’t the problem.

Two days ago a man grabbed a potato wedge from our hot bar, sniffed it, then put it back. A month ago I caught a man licking his fingers near our soup bar. I watched him stir the soup then lick his finger.

Long story short… hey customers, take responsibility for yourself.

@Jonsblond I wasn’t trying to say employees are bad people, they could get sick from a customer, or from their kids, it wasn’t a blame game. I know customers can be awful, and inconsiderate of others.

@stanleybmanly Is that what the national guard is doing in New Rochelle? I wrote in a Q that the national guard was there to help with food, and someone else said they were there to scrub down the schools, and implied they weren’t there to “help,” but more protect the rest of the nation.

If they guy who does transmission repairs at the shop gets Coronavirus, should the garage shut down?

After Hurricane Hugo, stores were open. Although there was no power. Walmart was letting people in, with flashlights, a few dozen at the time.

The National Guard, was a savior. They were riding around, in big groups, helping people. A group of them, helped my family pull a few trees off of our house. We couldn’t have done it, without them.

And. They had places handing out dry ice, and water…