A Coles supermarket in Melbourne will remain open despite two workers testing positive for the deadly coronavirus.
Victoria’s health department confirmed the pair are employed at Coles Brandon Park in Mulgrave, in Melbourne’s outer south-east.
According to a Coles spokesperson, the supermarket will continue to operate as people who pass through places where there has been a confirmed case have an extremely low risk of transmission.
“Health authorities have not instructed Coles that it is necessary to close any stores, including in cases where team members or customers are diagnosed with COVID-19.
“The Victorian Department of Health has reconfirmed that Coles has undertaken all necessary safety measures in stores where positive cases have been identified,” the spokesperson said.
Victoria has recorded another 96 confirmed cases of the coronavirus overnight, taking the number of people testing positive to 917. On Monday, 56 cases were reported.
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The store has undergone extensive cleaning and staff who have had contact with the infected workers have been instructed to self-isolate.
In a statement to the Seven Network, Coles said: “We have reinforced the importance of hygiene practices in line with government recommendations including providing hand sanitisers for all team members and increasing the frequency of cleaning of bathrooms, kitchens and communal areas,” the statement reads.
“In our stores, we have also increased cleaning, including in high traffic areas such as the checkouts.
“Like any responsible Australian business, where a team member receives a positive diagnosis, we work closely with health authorities, conduct extensive cleaning (in our case of the store) and complete appropriate contact tracing in line with Health Department guidelines.
The company said it assisted the health department to trace the close contacts of the infected staff members.
The Department of Health defines close contact as face to face contact for at least 15 minutes.
It also applies to people being in the same closed space for at least two hours.
lnfectious disease epidemiologist from the Australian National University Meru Shee told the ABC it was difficult to follow the health advice to not touch hard surfaces including trolleys, baskets and self-service checkouts, where the virus can survive for several days.
“You can’t really do that while you’re shopping,” she said.
As the major supermarkets increase their efforts to sanitise surfaces and create social-distancing markers at queues, washing your hands and avoiding touching surfaces was paramount, she said.
“You want to come home as quickly as possible, but if you have access to a toilet at the shopping centre go and wash your hands with soap and water immediately, or use a bit of alcohol-based hand sanitiser to clean and disinfect your hands,” she said.
“Also minimise touching your face without cleaning your hands. That’s the biggest thing.”
Coles supermarkets issued an updated advisory on their website on Tuesday morning, extending trading hours from 7am to 10pm and offering the Click and Collect option to carers, friends and neighbours who can shop on behalf of customers who can’t get to the supermarket.
“Carers, friends and neighbours can now shop on behalf of vulnerable customers during the Coles Community Hour 7am-8am* every Monday, Wednesday and Friday,” the statement read, providing they have the person’s healthcare or concession cards.
By the end of this week, carers, family and neighbours will be able to collect “Click&Collect” shopping orders in-store for customers who have used the Coles Online Priority Service.
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