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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
National
Cormac O'Shea

The number of Tesco, Aldi and Lidl workers hit with coronavirus in Ireland after supermarket outbreak warning

One Tesco Ireland worker is currently off work and recovering from coronavirus amid the Government warning of supermarket outbreaks.

The shopping giant said that out of their 13,000 workers a "small few" have tested positive since the disease reached Ireland.

Fellow supermarket giants Lidl and Aldi currently have no workers off sick as a result of Covid-19.

Since March, 12 of Aldi's 4,000 strong staff have been hit with the disease but all have since recovered and returned to work.

Lidl said that no staff member has tested positive in the last eight weeks but did not specify if any were diagnosed before that.

Tesco Ireland told the Irish Mirror that all their staff received full sick pay if they contracted the disease.

A spokesperson said: "Due to the diligence of our colleagues in adhering to the public health guidelines and the measures we have put in place in stores, only small number of our 13,000 colleagues have tested positive for COVID-19 since March.

"All our colleagues receive full sick pay from day one, and thankfully all affected colleagues have recovered.  Currently we have one colleague recovering from Covid-19.

"We continuously review our operations and to introduce increased measures to protect the health and safety of our colleagues and customers, following public health advice, at all times. 

"While the wearing of masks in shops and shopping centres will become mandatory once the Government publish the regulations, the vast majority of our colleagues are wearing facial coverings on the shop floor."

Aldi also praised their staff for their work in the pandemic so far.

A spokesperson said: "12 Aldi store team members from our workforce of over 4,000 have tested positive for Covid-19. Each team member has fully recovered and returned to work.

"We are extremely proud of all of our staff and how they have reacted to these challenging times.”

"Aldi has strictly adhered to all HSE workplace guidelines regarding Covid-19, including professional cleaning where prescribed in affected stores."

Lidl confirmed their staff have been Covid free for over eight weeks but did not specify how many were positive before that.

A spokesperson said: "We are pleased to confirm that there have been no confirmed cases of Covid-19 among 6,000 Lidl employees, across the island, in over 8 weeks.

"Since the onset of COVID-19 we have worked tirelessly to ensure our stores, warehouses and offices have been made safe for our valiant network of employees, customers and business partners."

Earlier this week acting CMO Dr Ronan Glynn warned that clusters were developing in a number of workplaces including supermarkets.

The top doctor said: "We are now seeing outbreaks of the virus in a range of work settings, including in construction, in fast food outlets and in supermarkets.

"We can't underestimate how quickly clusters develop.

"We have come so far together, but we need to stay vigilant to prevent a resurgence across the whole country in the coming weeks."

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