At least one additional employee at the Whole Foods Market in Kennesaw has been diagnosed with COVID-19, the store confirmed Friday.
The news comes days after another employee at the Barrett Parkway location tested positive for the highly contagious disease.
RELATED: Kennesaw Whole Foods employee diagnosed with COVID-19
“Yes, I can confirm that team members in our Kennesaw store have tested positive for COVID-19,” a company spokesman said in a statement.
It wasn’t immediately clear if there were more than two confirmed cases among the store’s employees.
Grocery chains across the nation are working to keep employees safe amid the global pandemic, though there have been multiple reports of workers dying after contracting the virus and falling ill.
MORE: Grocery workers are key during the virus. And they're afraid
As of noon Friday, there were 11,483 confirmed cases across the state and 416 deaths related to the new coronavirus, according to the latest data released by the Georgia Department of Public Health. Infections have increased by nearly 600 in the past 24 hours.
ALSO: Georgia reports 416 coronavirus deaths, more than 11K confirmed cases
An employee at the Kennesaw location said they were informed of the store’s latest case about 7:30 a.m. They were told the employee last worked April 3, though the company did not disclose which department they worked in.
Citing privacy concerns, Whole Foods declined to provide any additional information about the infected workers.
In its statement, the company said the store has taken additional steps to deep clean and disinfect the location, “on top of our current enhanced sanitation measures.”
“The safety of our team members and customers is our top priority and we are diligently following all guidance from local health and food safety authorities,” the statement read. “We’ve been working closely with our store team members, and are supporting the diagnosed team members, who are in quarantine.”
The spokesman said all Whole Foods stores are operating under social distancing guidelines and implementing “crowd control measures” as needed. Additionally, sneeze guards have been installed at checkout lines and the chain is requiring temperature checks for anyone working in its stores and facilities.
Face masks and gloves are also being distributed to employees at the start of each shift, the company said, and stores are closing two hours early every night to give workers time to clean and restock shelves.
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