23 employees test positive for COVID-19 at Whole Foods store in Midtown Detroit

A COVID-19 outbreak has hit the Whole Foods Market on Mack Avenue in Midtown Detroit, with 23 of its 196 employees recently testing positive for the virus.

Whole Foods Market confirmed in an email to the Free Press that individuals at the Midtown store have been diagnosed since the pandemic began. With each diagnosis, Whole Foods Market said, they address it with deep cleaning and enhanced sanitation.

“Upon being informed of positive cases at Whole Foods, the Detroit Health Department team acted immediately to address this outbreak by offering rapid testing to all employees," the Detroit Health Department said in a statement. "We have received a commitment from Whole Foods that no workers or close contacts of any employee who has tested positive will be allowed back to work until they have produced a negative test result.

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"This is a reminder to all grocery stores of the availability of vaccinations and the importance of getting their employees vaccinated to make sure this does not happen again.”

Earlier this month, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan announced that food service workers who live or work in the city are now eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine. Grocery store workers are included under the food service worker umbrella.

At the Detroit location, Whole Foods Market said, they are requiring workers receive a negative COVID-19 test before returning to work. Whole Foods is also partnering with the City of Detroit to make vaccines available to workers at no cost.

Whole Foods Market provided this statement in an email to the Free Press:

“The safety of our Team Members and customers remains our top priority, which is why we address any confirmed diagnosis in our stores with a comprehensive action plan that includes enhanced cleaning and contact tracing, as well as communicating directly with our Team Members. We support any Team Member who is diagnosed positive or placed in quarantine so they can prioritize their health and stay home. We have rolled out extensive measures to keep people safe in our stores and are diligently following all guidance from local health and food safety authorities.”

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On Wednesday, a Free Press reporter went to the Whole Foods Market in Midtown. People were lined to get in. A worker told the reporter that limited capacity was normal for the store. They said the store had not closed.

The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) has been urging states to expedite and prioritize vaccine access for all, union and nonunion, frontline food workers. Whole Foods Market workers are nonunion, though they have been trying to organize. A grassroots group called Whole Worker WFM is attempting to unionize the nationwide grocer, which Amazon bought in 2017.

The Midtown Detroit store opened in June 2013. It's typically a busy store with DMC and Wayne State University nearby.

Contact Detroit Free Press food writer Susan Selasky, Detroit Free Press and send food and restaurant news to: 313-222-6872 or sselasky@freepress.com. Follow @SusanMariecooks on Twitter.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: 23 employees test positive for COVID-19 at Whole Foods store in Midtown Detroit

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