Employees of numerous grocery and drug store chains across Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley have recently tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19). Infected workers hail from stores located throughout the Lower Mainland, including Burnaby, Surrey, Coquitlam, Langley, and Vancouver.
Loblaw Companies Ltd, the parent company of Real Canadian Superstore, No Frills, Shoppers Drug Mart, Wholesale Club, and Your Independent Grocer updated its COVID-19 employee case tracker May 7-10 to indicate the following new store worker cases across the Lower Mainland:
- Shoppers Drug Mart, 17790 Highway 10, Surrey: The last day the team member worked was on April 28.
- Real Canadian Superstore, 350 S.E. Marine Dr, Vancouver: The last day the team member worked was on May 5.
- Real Canadian Superstore, 14650 - 104th Avenue, Surrey: The last day any of the three infected team members worked was on April 23, 28 and May 5.
- Shoppers Drug Mart, 20159, 88th Avenue, Langley: The last day the team member worked was on April 30.
- Shoppers Drug Mart, 370 East Broadway, Vancouver: The last day both of the two infected team members worked was on May 1.
- Real Canadian Superstore, 2332 160th St., Surrey: The last day the team member worked was on May 2.
- Coquitlam Your Independent Grocer, 455 North Rd, Coquitlam: The last day the team member worked was on May 6.
- Wholesale Club Burnaby, 5335 Kingsway, Burnaby: The last day the team member worked was on May 8.
- Real Canadian Superstore, 3000 Lougheed Hwy, Coquitlam: The last day the team member worked was on May 1.
- Real Canadian Superstore, 45779 Luckakuck Way, Chilliwack: The last day any of the three infected team members worked was on April 26, 27 and May 5.
- Dean's No Frills Vancouver, 4508 Fraser Street, Vancouver: The last day the team member worked was on May 4.
In some instances, the listing on the Loblaw COVID-19 tracker represents an additional case being added to a previous store listing, when more employees at the same location become infected.
While T&T Supermarket is owned by Loblaw, the Canadian Asian grocery chain lists its COVID-19 cases separately on its own site and has had no employee at work in the last two weeks who has since tested positive for the virus.
However, Sobeys Inc., which operates B.C. chains Thirfty Foods and Safeway, and is the franchisor of discount grocery company FreshCo, has added more Lower Mainland cases to its online tracker:
- Safeway - 20871 Fraser Highway, Langley: The last day the employee worked was May 5
- FreshCo - 27566 Fraser Highway, Aldergrove: The last day the employee worked was May 4
- Safeway - 3410 Kingsway Street, Vancouver: The last day the employee worked was May 2
None of the above-listed stores is considered a coronavirus public exposure location by either Vancouver Coastal Health or Fraser Health, and none have been shut down by the health authority or WorkSafeBC.
Last week, both Vancouver Coastal Health and Fraser Health announced they were prioritizing frontline workers, including adult grocery store staff, for COVID-19 vaccination.
