Two shops close doors as Checkers employee in King William's Town tests positive for Covid-19

Two businesses had to close their doors at the normally busy The Mall in King William’s Town after one worker tested positive for Covid-19.

Checkers and Capitec bank were closed on Tuesday morning after an employee at the national retailer tested positive for the virus.

This was confirmed by centre manager Desiree Haynes.

However, Haynes declined to provide further details and referred questions to Checkers management.

“You should speak to the Checkers manager about this but yes, it is true, Checkers has had one employee [test positive], but it is not my place to confirm it on their behalf.”

She said strict protocols were followed to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

“Checkers has closed just to ensure that everybody is sanitised and decontaminate — Capitec has also closed because they are close to Checkers.

“We have ensured all areas are decontaminated and sanitised accordingly,” she said.

It could not be established at the time of writing when the worker had tested positive as attempts to source comment from Checkers were unsuccessful on Tuesday.

The store’s number rang unanswered, while an employee who refused to identify herself said the media inquiry would be sent to the national head office.

“You will get a call from them in five minutes,” she said.

But hours later, no call had been received by Tuesday afternoon.

Retail workers have been allowed to operate during the national lockdown as they are essential workers. The King William’s Town worker is not the first retail worker to be infected with the virus as some retail giants had to close in Nelson Mandela Bay in April after their workers had tested positive for the virus.

When DispatchLIVE arrived at The Mall, scores of customers were seen queuing outside the centre with security guards turning away some shoppers who had not yet gone to buy essential goods.

A security guard who spoke on condition of anonymity said the Checkers employees were taken to The Mall’s ground floor as the shop closed.

Customer Andile Sabi said they now had to buy their groceries at other shops.

“It’s bad that Checkers is closed but we will just have to shop elsewhere. We just hope they quickly test their staff and make sure their customers are safe when they reopen.”

King William’s Town residents took to social media to air their views on the closure. One user wrote: “I am feeling scared, Checkers has closed in King, there are a lot of people who buy there. There could be many infected with this virus.”

It could not be established how many Checkers stores had been closed in the Eastern Cape since the start of the national lockdown. However, five Checkers stores in Cape Town have been closed after several workers came down with the virus.

On Friday, the Shoprite Group confirmed that 17 of its Western Cape stores had been hit by Covid-19.

The Eastern Cape had 814 confirmed cases of the virus, 17 deaths and 372 recoveries by Tuesday afternoon.

DispatchLIVE reported on Tuesday that premier Oscar Mabuyane said more than 700,000 people had been screened and more than 14,000 tested as the Eastern Cape ramped up its fight against the coronavirus.