Workers At Rego Park Trader Joe's Test Positive For Coronavirus

REGO PARK, QUEENS — At least five employees at the Trader Joe's in Rego Park have tested positive for the new coronavirus, amid criticism that the company isn't doing enough to protect its workers from the virus, according to an internal email seen by Patch.

A Trader Joe's manager informed supermarket staffers on April 15 that a worker had tested positive for the virus three days earlier, and an additional four workers who are on voluntary leave also tested positive for the virus, the email said.

The first employee was last in the store on April 1 — 11 days before she tested positive, the manager said in the email. The other four employees haven't been in the store for at least three weeks, according to the email, which did not specify when they tested positive for the virus and when management learned of those cases.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says businesses should clean and disinfect all areas and equipment used by a person who contracts the coronavirus, unless more than seven days have passed since the person was there.

To keep up to date with coronavirus developments in Forest Hills, sign up for Patch's news alerts and newsletter.

That guidance applies even if an employee is suspected to have COVID-19, the name for the disease caused by the new coronavirus.

Trader Joe's is closing stores for a deep cleaning if a worker with the coronavirus was last in the store less than six days before testing positive or receiving a "likely" diagnosis, according to an employee at the Rego Park location, who asked to remain anonymous, and a social media post by the Trader Joe’s Union Coalition.

Kenya Friend-Daniel, a Trader Joe's spokesperson, would not confirm the six-day timeframe but said the company is "meeting and exceeding all safety and health recommendations," including CDC guidance.

Acknowledging that not everyone can get tested for the virus, she said that, if a worker is exhibiting symptoms associated with the virus, the company will close that store for cleaning — though a Trader Joe's employee in Westbury, New York, previously told Buzzfeed News that didn't appear to have happened at that location.

"Our actions vary by situation, and depending on the date range of potential exposure, can include notifying the public and Crew Members, and closing our stores for additional, thorough cleaning and sanitization," Friend-Daniel said. "We take a hyper careful approach by closing stores in these instances, and we do not reopen a store until we are satisfied that further intense cleaning and sanitation has been completed and it is safe for the store to reopen."

The Trader Joe's in Rego Park — the chain's only location in Queens — closed overnight on April 5 for a deep cleaning as a precautionary measure after the employees on leave tested positive for the virus, according to Friend-Daniel.

None of the five employees had symptoms when they last worked in the store, she said, but one of those workers had been in the store seven days before testing positive, which means the CDC recommendations on cleaning workspaces would've applied.

"High-traffic areas" of the store were cleaned overnight on April 15, according to the Rego Park employee. The Rego Park store is scheduled for another deep cleaning Thursday as a precautionary measure, the Trader Joe's website says.

News of the coronavirus cases at the Rego Park Trader Joe's, also reported by QNS.com, follows a report by Buzzfeed News that detailed employees' confusion over the company's guidelines for whether or not a store is closed for sanitizing.

One employee at the Rego Park store previously expressed safety concerns to the Forest Hills Post, claiming that he didn't have gloves or enough hand sanitizer and that social-distancing rules weren't being followed.

In late March, a group of Trader Joe’s workers trying to unionize called for a boycott, claiming that employees across New York had tested positive for the virus and their managers were refusing to close stores.

"Keeping stores open despite sick crew — and not informing customers of positive test results among crew — is putting customers at risk," the coalition said.

Coronavirus In NYC: Latest Happenings And Guidance

Email Queens reporter maya.kaufman@patch.com to share story tips, or fill out this anonymous form to share your coronavirus stories. All messages are confidential.