Kirk staff test positive for COVID-19

| 09/05/2020 | 248 Comments
Cayman News Service

(CNS): Three staff members at one of Grand Cayman’s major supermarkets, Kirk Market, have tested positive for the coronavirus, the management stated in a release issued late Friday night. As a result the store will be closed on Saturday, 9 May, in order to deep-clean it. These results are in addition to the single new positive announced by Medical Officer of Health Dr Samuel Williams-Rodriguez on Friday.

The release from the supermarket said that all three staff members are asymptomatic.

“Meticulous contact tracing has been carried out to track down every colleague who has been in sustained or adjacent contact with the affected team members,” Kirk stated, adding that all close contacts of those infected “have been tested and excluded from work while we await their results from the HSA”.

The new positives were part of the Health Services Authority’s screening process of all healthcare and other front-line workers across the Cayman Islands and may dampen hopes that the virus has been largely contained here.

Dr Williams-Rodriguez said at Friday’s press briefing that there were 40 active COVID-19 cases on Grand Cayman, with none on the Sister Islands. The three new cases from the Kirk workforce are in addition to that figure, though the full results of the most recent batch of tests has not yet been revealed.

Kirk stated that the closing of the store this weekend was part of its COVID Emergency Response Plan and that they will “conduct additional stringent sanitation and deep-cleaning procedures for the entire store”.

The COVID-positive staff members had their employer’s “full support”, Kirk said. “The safety of our team members and customers remains our highest priority, regardless of the challenging times we now face.”

The release said the store’s management was “monitoring the COVID-19 situation very closely, while actively collaborating with the Health Services Authority and following all recommended guidelines”, as they wished their staff members “all the best in their recovery”.


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Category: Business, Health, Medical Health, Retail

Comments (248)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    We need a plan with DATES so we know what we are doing……

  2. Anonymous says:

    From Kirks website. Well done! CaymanKind!

    “Any Kirk Market Employee excluded from work due to a COVID-related absence will be entitled to:

    Full Pay.

    A temporary charge account for FREE prepared meals, groceries, and prioritized home-delivery for their household.

    Additional COVID-19 Sick Leave.”

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  3. Anonymous says:

    China’s first case was in November. Do try to keep up: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.livescience.com/amp/first-case-coronavirus-found.html

  4. Shafted Good says:

    I know that this is about Kirk’s but a friend of mine in senior management at XXXX on Island confided in me that XXXX here is going to shut its doors and file for Court protection because they cannot pay out the pensions.

    This is because the high risk loans that were done before and the downturn of the economy both locally and internationally due to COVID19.

    Apparently they are trying to keep it a secret and pull tangible assests before an announcement is made and the Govt steps in.

    Smells alot like a First Cayman Bank scenario where the public got shafted on their money……..

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    • Sally says:

      Tell me more please, please.

      11
    • Anonymous says:

      I bet earlier posters are not laughing now. Thank you CNS for allowing concerned citizens, in these extraordinarily times, to go off topic from time to time. It’s one way a community can look after itself.

    • Anonymous says:

      I really really hope what you are saying is not true. I shutter to think of the fallout if it is true….God help us.

      11
    • Anonymous says:

      Loans? When were the pensions authorized for lending other than to the individual members borrowing from their own account balance? This better not be true.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Not very faithful, then?

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      1
    • Anonymous says:

      Back on the main topic:

      As an assurance to shoppers, according to an informed Internet source, shopping accounts for a very low likelihood of contracting the virus.

      “The main sources for infection are home, workplace, public transport, social gatherings, and restaurants. This accounts for 90% of all transmission events. In contrast, outbreaks spread from shopping appear to be responsible for a small percentage of traced infections.”

      The operating principle is that the necessary viral load requires sustained exposure over an extended period of time.

      CNS:
      I found your source. It is here.

      • Anonymous says:

        I also take some comfort in knowing that the few or relatively few who break my 6 ft barrier, do so for only a second or two, so the probability of transmission is very low. And if they get full on in my face, I might have to slap them away…seriously

        • Anonymous says:

          Two women standing up 4 feet apart talking in front the milk. Watched me looking at the milk. I said excuse and slowly approached, reached for the milk and took half a second to leave. They didn’t budge.

          Woman shouts at me “MAINTAIN 6 FEET FROM ME” as I’m walking off. Lucky I was in uniform and didn’t have time.

          • Anonymous says:

            Two men chatting in the canned veg section. I wait patiently, they see me, I tell them to move so I can get what I need near them. They open up a space between them so I can get in and I lose it on them to move out of my way. I’m little, but I got a mouth!

    • Anonymous says:

      Maybe 25% stands to be called from pensions right now. If there is a registered pension plan kiting the other 75% of (non-margined) contributions and performance that never belonged to them, we would finally have that blockbuster headline white collar criminal case.

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