Over 100 Toronto area grocery store employees test positive for COVID-19

Ontario COVID-19 cases have seen record-breaking numbers in the last few weeks, and Toronto area grocery stores are starting to see the same.

More than 100 COVID-19 cases were reported in major grocery stores from employees across the region in a span of a week.

Loblaws has reported more than 60 employee COVID-19 cases in 45 of its grocery chains since April 13:

• April 13
  • Two employees at the Real Canadian Superstore, 3045 Mavis Road in Mississauga, were reported to have tested positive for COVID-19 and had last worked on April 6 and April 9, respectively.
• April 14
  • Two employees at Loblaws, 3671 Dundas Street West, were reported to have tested positive for COVID-19. They had last worked on April 6 and 7, respectively.
• April 15
  • Three employees at Loblaws, 50 Musgrave Street, were reported to have tested positive for the virus and had last worked on April 6 and 9. Individual dates have not been specified.
  • Two employees at Jeff’s No Frills, 449 Carlaw Avenue, were reported to have tested positive for the virus and had last worked on April 5 and 8, respectively.
• April 16
  • Multiple employees at Real Canadian Superstore, 5 Gerry Fitzgerald Drive, were reported to have tested positive for COVID-19. Specific dates have not been revealed.
  • Two employees at Daniel’s No Frills in Mississauga, 620 Eglinton Avenue West, were reported to have tested positive for COVID-19. They had last worked on April 9 and 10.
  • Two employees at Real Canadian Superstore, 2549 Weston Road, were reported to have tested positive for COVID-19. They had last worked on April 8 and 11.
  • An employee at Loblaws, 5095 Yonge Street, was reported to have tested positive for COVID-19. They had last worked on April 10.
  • Two employees at Andrew & Shelley’s No Frills, 900 Dufferin Street, were reported to have tested positive for the virus. They had last worked on April 5 and 14.
• April 17
  • Five employees at Peter’s Valu-mart, 1125 Bloor Street East in Mississauga, were reported to have tested positive for COVID-19. They had last worked on April 10, 11, 12, and 15.
  • Two employees at Qais’ No Frills, 9920 Airport Road in Brampton were reported to have tested positive for COVID-19 and had last worked on April 8 and 10.
  • Multiple employees at Fortinos, 60 Quarry Edge in Brampton, were reported to have tested positive for the virus.
• April 18
  • Multiple employees at Loblaws, 11 Redway Road, were reported to have tested positive for the virus.
  • Two employees at Fortinos, 55 Mountain Ash Road in Brampton, were reported to have tested positive for COVID-19 and had last worked on April 5 and 9.
  • Two employees at Rocco’s No Frills, 200 Front Street East, were reported to have tested positive for COVID-19 and had last worked on April 8 and 14.
• April 19
  • Two employees at Loblaws, 101 Eglinton Avenue East, were reported to have tested positive for COVID-19 and had last worked on April 7 and 14.
  • Multiple employees at Loblaws, 200 Bullock Drive in Markham, were reported to have tested positive for the virus.
  • Multiple employees at Fortinos, 700 Lawrence Avenue West, were reported to have tested positive for the virus.
• April 20
  • Two employees at Loblaws, 60 Carlton Street, were reported to have tested positive for COVID-19 and had last worked on April 9 and 15.
  • Three employees at Fortinos, 2911 Major Mackenzie Drive West in Vaughan, were reported to have tested positive for COVID-19 and had last worked on April 10 and 11.
  • Three employees at Fortinos, 35 Worthington Avenue in Brampton, were reported to have tested positive for COVID-19 and had last worked on April 8 and 11.
  • Two employees at Fortinos, 3940 Highway 7 in Vaughan, were reported to have tested positive for COVID-19 and had last worked on April 13 and 16.

The extensive list of cases can be found on the Loblaw Ltd., COVID-19 page.

Metro has also reported 26 COVID-19 cases in total from April 12 until April 18.

On April 15, three employees at the Metro location, 656 Eglinton Avenue East, were reported to have tested positive for the virus. They had last worked on April 8 and April 9.

The same day, a separate Metro, 2155 St. Clair Avenue West, two employees were reported to have tested positive for the virus. They had last worked on April 7 and 10.

On April 17, two employees at the Food Basics located at 2452 Sheppard Avenue East, were reported to have tested positive for the virus and had last worked on April 11 and 13.

The full list of Metro cases can be found on their COVID-19 board.

Both Sobeys and FreshCo reported 22 positive COVID-19 cases at their grocery stores across the Toronto area.

The FreshCo at 3737 Major Mackenzie Drive in Woodbridge reported three employees testing positive for the virus, on April 13. They had last worked on April 3, 6, and 7.

The full list of cases can be found on the Sobeys COVID-19 advisory page.

• See also:
  • Loblaws among grocery stores reporting employee COVID-19 cases
  • 10 Toronto area Shoppers Drug Mart employees test positive for COVID-19
  • Several Toronto area LCBO employees test positive for COVID-19

Metro has previously reported coronavirus cases at locations including Parkway Mall, Queen West, Bloor and Spadina, College and Shaw, The Cold Chain Produce Distribution Centre, and more.

“We will always contact and follow the guidance of Public Health to ensure the safety of our teammates and customers whenever we are made aware of a confirmed case of COVID-19 in one of our food stores or distribution centres,” reads Metro’s website.

In an effort for transparency, Loblaws regularly updates their coronavirus cases in stores by province within the last 15 days, as well as Sobey’s for 14 days.

“In addition, we have mandated that our staff and customers wear masks in Extra Foods, Fortinos, Maxi, No Frills, Real Canadian Superstores and T&T stores across Canada,” said Loblaws.