This story originally appeared in the Texas Tribune.
In the middle of a recent shift at Kroger in Cedar Hill, Jackie Ryan was assisting customers with self-checkout when an elderly woman asked for help finding canned pumpkin. While Ryan pointed her in the right direction, the woman mentioned that she had been feeling sick. After Ryan helped her and her son pay for their groceries, the woman suddenly collapsed.
Ryan quickly dialed 911, and a team of EMTs arrived to take the woman to the hospital. While overhearing the first responders question the woman, Ryan discovered that she had been sick for over two months and received a COVID-19 test earlier that same day.
Ryan didn’t know the results of the test, but concerned about potential exposure to the virus, she asked her manager if she needed to quarantine or take time off work.
“If you don’t get any symptoms, then it’s fine,” the manager replied.
April Martin, the corporate affairs manager for the Kroger Dallas Division, said that Kroger has complied with all health and safety regulations when identifying positive cases among store employees.
Nearly a year into the pandemic, Ryan’s experience that day reflects the challenges that grocery store workers across Texas are facing in their stores every day. For months, workers have risked their health to keep shorthanded grocery stores open, all while dealing with increased hours and customers refusing to wear masks.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices urged states to include front-line essential workers in Phase 1B of vaccine allocation. But Texas decided not to include any essential employees like grocery store workers in the state’s current vaccine priority groups. Without any guarantee of vaccine…
This story originally appeared in the Texas Tribune.
In the middle of a recent shift at Kroger in Cedar Hill, Jackie Ryan was assisting customers with self-checkout when an elderly woman asked for help finding canned pumpkin. While Ryan pointed her in the right direction, the woman mentioned that she had been feeling sick. After Ryan helped her and her son pay for their groceries, the woman suddenly collapsed.
Ryan quickly dialed 911, and a team of EMTs arrived to take the woman to the hospital. While overhearing the first responders question the woman, Ryan discovered that she had been sick for over two months and received a COVID-19 test earlier that same day.
Ryan didn’t know the results of the test, but concerned about potential exposure to the virus, she asked her manager if she needed to quarantine or take time off work.
“If you don’t get any symptoms, then it’s fine,” the manager replied.
April Martin, the corporate affairs manager for the Kroger Dallas Division, said that Kroger has complied with all health and safety regulations when identifying positive cases among store employees.
Nearly a year into the pandemic, Ryan’s experience that day reflects the challenges that grocery store workers across Texas are facing in their stores every day. For months, workers have risked their health to keep shorthanded grocery stores open, all while dealing with increased hours and customers refusing to wear masks.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices urged states to include front-line essential workers in Phase 1B of vaccine allocation. But Texas decided not to include any essential employees like grocery store workers in the state’s current vaccine priority groups. Without any guarantee of vaccine…Read Morelocal_news
