Coronavirus Outbreak Reported At Spotsylvania Grocery Store

SPOTSYLVANIA, VA — Several employees of the Aldi grocery store in the Four Mile Fork area of Spotsylvania County have tested positive for the new coronavirus, or COVID-19, the first coronavirus outbreak reported in the Rappahannock Area Health District, the Spotsylvania County government said Thursday. An outbreak is defined as two lab-confirmed cases that are linked by a person, place, or time outside of a household.

The Aldi grocery store, located at 5099 Jefferson Davis Highway, underwent a deep cleaning performed by an outside company on Wednesday and has since reopened with employees from nearby Aldi locations.

The seven Aldi employees who tested positive for the coronavirus are isolating at home. No employees exposed to the people who tested positive for the coronavirus will be working at the Aldi store until a 14-day quarantine period is over, the county said.

"We can confirm that we have had multiple employees who work in our store at 5099 Jefferson Davis Hwy, Fredericksburg, Virginia, test positive for COVID-19," Aldi Corporate Manager Philip Roades said Thursday in a statement. "We have asked all employees from this store to self-quarantine to focus on their health. ... All employees who are in quarantine are on paid leave and we are doing all that we can to support them at this time."

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Aldi is limiting the number of customers in the store at one time to 40. At the store, cashiers are placed at least six feet apart. Plexiglass barriers have been installed for customer protection. High-touch store areas are frequently cleaned and disinfected. All employees are wearing face masks

Roades said Aldi is working with the Rappahannock Area Health District and is following the district's guidance as well as the advice of the CDC "to ensure we continue to operate with everyone’s safety top of mind."

For several weeks, the Rappahannock Area Health District and the West Piedmont Health District were the only two health districts without a reported outbreak of the coronavirus. West Piedmont still has not reported a coronavirus outbreak.

The Rappahannock Area Health District includes the City of Fredericksburg and the counties of Spotsylvania, Stafford, King George and Caroline. As of Thursday, the district had reported 475 positive cases of the coronavirus and 10 deaths.

Spotsylvania County has reported 143 positive cases of the coronavirus, 23 hospitalizations and three deaths as of Thursday, according to the Virginia Department of Health. The City of Fredericksburg has reported 33 people who have tested positive, seven hospitalizations and no deaths.

Spotsylvania County is recommending that residents continue to take the following steps to contain the spread of the coronavirus:

• Follow Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam's Executive Order 55 Stay-at-Home. Make limited trips to obtain food and medications while attempting to maintain social distancing.
• Follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations for wearing cloth face coverings in public to reduce the spread of the virus from asymptomatic people.
• Cloth face coverings should not be placed on young children under 2-years-old, anyone who has trouble breathing or is unconscious, incapacitated or otherwise unable to remove the mask without assistance.
• Continue following infection prevention and control measures, such as washing hands, coughing/sneezing into a tissue or sleeve and not touching eyes, nose or mouth.
• Call your doctor if you are experiencing possible coronavirus symptoms.
• Do not avoid seeking non-COVID-19-related emergency medical care due to fear of virus transmission.
• Check on seniors to make sure they are okay while practicing social distancing; offer to pick up items or medications for them while making your own limited trips to grocery stores and pharmacies.

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