Wegmans starting coronavirus temperature checks for employees
Employees with a temperature of 100 degrees or higher will be asked to leave
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Wegmans is requiring all of its employees to go through a wellness check before the start of each shift as it strives to keep its stores safe during the coronavirus pandemic.
Employees will be asked questions regarding their health and asked to do a temperature check with an infrared thermometer.
"For more than 100 years, we have operated under the premise that we can only achieve our goals if we first meet the needs of our people," Wegmans said Monday. "Never before has that been more important than right now."
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The regional supermarket chain owns 101 stores across New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland, Massachusetts, and North Carolina. It is one of the largest private companies in the U.S. with 50,000 employees.
Shoppers stand in line for groceries at a Wegmans store near the Navy Yard in the Brooklyn borough of New York, U.S., on April 7, 2020. (Stephanie Keith/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
An employee exhibiting symptoms or carrying a temperature of 100 degrees or higher will be asked to leave and contact a medical professional, but will still be compensated for the shift, Wegmans said.
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The grocer is among a growing list of companies adopting additional precautionary quarantine procedures in an effort to keep their facilities operating virus-free.
Walmart, Home Depot, Amazon and Tyson Foods and Starbucks are among the retailers who have implemented similar measures as they continue to face a surge in demand.
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If an employee tests positive, Wegmans said it would work with local health departments to investigate and alert the public if there is a risk to customers.
To date, over 2 million people have been infected with the virus around the world, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.