Workers at 4 H-E-B stores in one Texas city test positive for COVID-19, company says

Workers at four H-E-B grocery stores in San Antonio, Texas, have tested positive for coronavirus, the company says.

H-E-B reported the first positive case on June 11 at the 1601 Nogalitos location, according to a news release. The person last visited the store the day before, the company said.

The next case was reported at the H-E-B plus! on South Zarzamora on June 12, according to the company. The person was last in the store on June 11.

A third case was reported on June 13 at the H-E-B location at 735 SW Military, the company said, with the person last visiting the store on June 6.

The fourth case was also reported on June 13 at the 3323 SE Military Drive location, according to the company. The person was last in the store on June 11, H-E-B said.

In each case, all workers who were directly exposed were contacted and the stores have all been sanitized and deep-cleaned multiple times, the company said.

H-E-B did not say if customers were exposed.

“At our stores, we continue to enforce proper social distancing practices, strict sanitation and require the use of masks or facial covering by all our Partners and vendors in customer facing and close contact positions,” the company said.

H-E-B no longer requires customers to wear face masks while shopping, but does request them, the company said. All workers who routinely interact with customers are still required to wear masks, the San Antonio Express-News reported.

“Social distancing, wearing masks, proper hand washing, and sanitization are all things we do to help keep Texas healthy,” H-E-B said.

As Texas enters phase three of Gov. Greg Abbott’s reopening plan, the state has seen a spike in coronavirus cases, USA Today reported.

The Texas State Department of Health said the increase is due to an increase of testing in prisons, according to the outlet, as well as nursing homes and meat packing plants.

Bexar County, home to San Antonio, has 4,242 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 88 deaths, according to data current through June 13, the city of San Antonio reported.