Since Jan. 16, there have now been 24 positive COVID-19 cases among employees between the two Barrie Walmart locations, with six being confirmed to BarrieToday over the last two days.
On Wednesday, Walmart Canada corporate affairs manager Felicia Fefer confirmed three cases at the south-end location. The employees there last worked Feb. 15, Feb. 19 and Feb. 25.
On Thursday, Fefer confirmed to BarrieToday there are three more cases announced today. The Mapleview Drive West store has two and there is one at the north-end location on Bayfield Street. The employees at the south-end location last worked Feb. 27 and Feb. 28, while the employee at the north-end store last worked on Feb. 20.
In a BarrieToday story published on March 2, eight cases were confirmed between the city’s two store locations at that time.
The employees at the Mapleview Drive West store last worked Feb. 15, Feb. 25 (two people), Feb. 26 and Feb. 27.
Meanwhile, the employees at the Bayfield Street store last worked on Feb. 13, Feb. 16 and Feb. 20.
In a similar BarrieToday story published on Feb. 26, 10 cases were confirmed between the city’s two store locations, dating from Jan. 16 to Feb. 20.
In that article, Fefer said anyone in close contact with someone with a positive case was told to self-isolate and that the company “conducted a deep cleaning in each of the stores.”
BarrieToday has asked several times what constitutes a “deep cleaning” and has not received an answer from Walmart Canada.
