UPDATE: Another N.J. ShopRite employee tests positive for coronavirus

An employee at the ShopRite grocery store in Newark has tested positive for coronavirus, store officials confirmed.

A letter sent to employees Sunday informing them of the diagnosis indicated that all employees who had contact with the worker at the Springfield Avenue location are being asked to self-quarantine at home for 14 days.

All other employees were told to monitor themselves for symptoms, including fever, cough or shortness of breath.

The letter, which was shared on social media, did not indicate if the employee had contact with store customers.

The store has undergone a deep cleaning and will remain open while following all federal health guidelines, according to ShopRite.

“We wish our associate well and hope for a speedy recovery. We also thank our customers for their patience and continued support,” spokesman Daniel Emmer said Tuesday.

As for whether the associate had contact with customers, federal health privacy laws prevent ShopRite from providing details that could lead to the employee’s identification, Emmer said, including job title, schedule or department where the staffer worked.

Newark Councilwoman LaMonica McIver reported via a Facebook post that the ShopRite employee is not a Newark resident.

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka has asked city residents to take extra precautions in response to the pandemic, identifying three hot zones that have seen a high number of confirmed cases, testing and quarantines. The ShopRite is located in one of those zones, where residents have been asked to shelter in place and only leave home for emergencies or essential needs.

McIver indicated that ShopRite operators are taking steps to protect employees and shoppers.

“ShopRite is dedicated to ensuring that residents are safe to continue to shop for items you are in need of,” she wrote. “ShopRite has been sanitizing and deep cleaning every evening. New measures will be visited to ensure that we are practicing social distancing as much as possible inside the store.”

A Union County ShopRite store in Springfield closed for several hours last week because of a shopper with flu-like symptoms. That shopper was taken to a hospital, but the symptoms shown didn’t meet the criteria for COVID-19, police said at the time.

New Jersey has reported more than 2,800 COVID-19 infections and 27 deaths from the virus. The global death toll now exceeds 17,000, according to figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

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Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattGraySJT. Find NJ.com on Facebook.