An employee at the Whole Foods market in Huntington Beach has tested positive for the new coronavirus and is being quarantined. With the store remaining open for business, the incident is underlining the lack of clear, uniform protocols for grocers with infected employees.

UPDATE: Despite O.C. grocery worker infection, officials sit tight with minimal guidelines

Fellow Whole Foods employees received news of the infection from a robocall Tuesday night, March 24.

“We are working to identify any team member who may have had prolonged contact with the diagnosed team member and will communicate with them individually,” according to the recorded message. It’s unclear whether those who had close contact with the infected worker will be quarantined as well.

The unidentified infected employee last worked Thursday, March 19, at the store in the Bella Terra mall, the a message said.

A spokesperson for the Austin-based grocery chain confirmed that an employee was infected but declined to say when the company became aware that there was a suspected infection or how many employees may have been exposed.

The danger posed to customers is unclear.

“Currently there is no evidence of food or food packaging being associated with transmission of COVID-19,” according to a U.S. Food and Drug Administration statement on March 17.

However, the COVID-19 virus can remain active and transmittable for hours or days on surfaces, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Assistant store manager Danny Garro said the store continues the more rigorous daily cleaning and sanitizing practices implemented after the coronavirus outbreak while an emailed statement from Whole Foods said the infected employee prompted “an additional cleaning and disinfection has been performed.”

In terms of direct contact between employees and shoppers, workers in some departments have more exposure than others, according to another employee, who asked to remain unnamed because of fear of retribution. He noted that store managers have not disclosed which department the infected employee worked in.

“We’ve closed our hot food and salad bars, but there are departments where food is being directly handed to customers, like the meat and fish counter,” the employee said.

Vague protocols

Government protocols for stores with infected employees appear to be few and far between in many regions.

Trader’s Joe’s has temporarily closed four of its stores — two in New York, one in New Jersey and one in Maryland — for cleaning and restocking after workers there tested positive, according to the supermarket chain’s website.

But the FDA’s only directive to groceries on the issue is to quarantine the employee, maintain the confidentiality of the individual and inform fellow employees. It refers to the Centers for Disease Control’s guidance to remain quarantined for at least seven days once symptoms appear and at least 72 hours after a fever has passed.

Otherwise, the FDA directs grocers to “follow protocols set by local and state health departments.”

Orange County’s Health Care Agency referred an inquiry from the Southern California News Group about such protocols to the California Department of Public Health.

Guidance issued March 16 by the state Department of Public Health, notes the critical role food distribution plays in public health and calls for social distancing, limiting the number of customers in a store and increasing sanitation efforts. However, the state offers no instruction on what to do if a grocery employee becomes infected.

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health provides a more detailed approach for stores in that county with a COVID-19 infected worker. That includes sending home for quarantine any employee who’s been in contact with an infected co-worker — or in contact with a suspected but unconfirmed coronavirus victim.

The directive also calls for additional cleaning and sanitizing after an infection is identified but does not mention store closures.

Health departments in Riverside and San Bernardino counties did not respond Wednesday to requests for their protocols if grocery employees become infected with COVID-19.