A major grocery store chain is restricting the number of shoppers in its stores in the face of the COVID-19 Omciron wave.
Save-On-Foods has reduced capacity at its stores to 50%, including its three outlets in New Westminster: at the Brewery District, at Royal City Centre and at Columbia Square plaza.
In an emailed statement to the Record's sister paper, the Richmond News, the company said it would be running all its B.C. locations at 50% capacity until further notice.
“We have posted the occupancy count with signage at the front of each store, and the teams are working to increase signage in areas that typically see congestion such as our front end, or in service departments like our deli or bakery,” the statement read.
“This is all part of our efforts to reinforce that physical distancing is required whenever possible for the safety of both team members and customers.”
The company's website says it has developed its own infectious disease plan that "often goes above and beyond provincially required minimums."
It cites a number of measures implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic, including:
- increased daily cleaning and sanitation protocols
- a COVID-19 task force
- a thorough process of contact tracing
- self-screening protocols, and
- best practices in all departments to reduce the spread of COVID-19 on high-touch surfaces and in common areas.
"Following the guidance of our public health authorities, we adapt to changing regulations, requirements and guidance as it changes," the site says.
Case counts have remained high around B.C. in the face of the Omicron wave, despite severely limited testing that means the real case count is expected to be substantially higher than reported. B.C. reported 1,975 new cases in the province yesterday.
In New Westminster, meanwhile, the B.C. Centre for Disease Control reports 206 new positive cases between Jan. 11 and 17, with a test positivity rate of 36%.
– with files from Kirsten Clarke, Richmond News
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