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OAKLAND — A dozen workers at Cardenas Markets in Fruitvale have tested positive for coronavirus, a company spokesperson said Wednesday.
The company was notified of the most recent positive test result Sunday, involving an employee who was last in the store May 21. Cardenas spokesperson Marisa Kutansky said each infected employee was asked to quarantine for at least 14 days, as were any other workers that they had been in contact with.
The busy store, at 1630 High Street at Bancroft Avenue, remained open this week.
The outbreak, which has not been previously reported, comes as Alameda County struggles with a spike in coronavirus cases. The 94601 zip code, where the market is located, has been the epicenter of that surge, with total of 290 COVID-19 cases — a rate of 519 cases per 100,000 residents, by far the highest of any zip code in the county, according to health department data.
News of the cluster stunned Oakland Councilman Noel Gallo, who represents the Fruitvale District. His office was initially informed of six cases at the market, which a Cardenas district manager said occurred last week.
“It’s alarming that we allow activity to continue when employees are testing positive,” Gallo said Thursday. “If Cardenas is experiencing this, I’m sure other businesses are going through it too.”
A Hispanic supermarket chain based in Ontario, Cardenas operates 45 stores across California, including locations in San Jose, East Palo Alto, Hayward, and Antioch.
In late March, the company reported that an employee at its East San Jose store, and another in Pomona, had contracted the coronavirus. Workers at eight other Cardenas Markets, including the Fruitvale and Hayward stores, tested positive for the virus in May, according to information provided on the company’s website.
Cardenas has hired an outside company to deep-clean affected stores, and has also installed plexiglass and asked employees to sanitize shopping carts in an effort to prevent spread of the virus, Kutansky said.
“Our number one concern is the health and well-being of our team members and the communities we serve,” she said. “We are doing everything we can to serve local residents and families to ensure their needs are met during this extraordinary crisis.”
The company declined to say whether any of the workers infected at the Fruitvale location have been hospitalized, or if there are any deaths associated with the outbreak.
