NEW BEDFORD — The New Bedford Health Department issued a cease and desist order to the Walgreens store located on Kempton Street Friday after the company confirmed that three employees there tested positive for COVID-19, according to Public Information Officer Jonathan Carvalho.

The order will require that “the store cease operations until it has provided documentation to the Health Department that it has cleaned and disinfected the store during its closure and removed all employees suspected or confirmed to be infected with COVID-19”, Carvalho said Friday.

The order also requires that other employees are only allowed to return to work at the store if they have received documentation from a physician that their returning to work does not pose a direct threat to others.

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Walgreens did not inform the New Bedford Health Department of the positive cases at their Kempton Street location until April 1, Carvalho said, after the city had already received inquiries from The Standard-Times about the possibility of confirmed cases at the store.

In the initial statement Walgreens spokesperson Alexandra Brown sent to The Standard-Times on April 1, Brown said Walgreens was recently notified of two confirmed cases in their New Bedford store and that the individuals had not been in their store since March 13.

The statement goes on to say Walgreens was informed another employee was being evaluated for COVID-19 on March 25, which was later confirmed.

The store was previously closed for cleaning to disinfect the premises and reopened on March 29, according to Brown’s statement, “in accordance with our established protocols and CDC guidance.”

The April 1 statement also states, “We promptly notified and followed the guidance from the Bristol County Health Department.”

Since there is no such department, The Standard-Times followed up with Brown and she said “I clarified, we contacted the New Bedford Health Department.”

Brown said Walgreens connected with Rachel Eckenreiter at the New Bedford Health Department, but did not respond to a follow-up question about when the call took place.

Carvalho said the call between Walgreens and the city’s Health Department was logged on April 1.

The Standard-Times first contacted Walgreens about confirmed COVID-19 cases at their Kempton Street Store on March 31.