Warning for Woolworths customers as grocery deliveries are cancelled AGAIN as hundreds of staff are swabbed for coronavirus after Melbourne worker tested positive
- Woolworths deliveries have been cancelled in Victoria for the second time
- The distribution centre was impacted after an employee contracted coronavirus
- The supermarket insists this will only impact five per cent of daily deliveries
Woolworths has been forced to cancel some delivery services for a second time after a worker at one of its distribution centres contracted coronavirus.
While only one employee is confirmed to have tested positive, several more of the 800 employees have been directed to self-isolate, leaving the facility short-staffed.
Hundreds of orders were already cancelled on Monday as a result of the worker’s infection, but Woolworths assured customers delivery would return to normal.
But more order were cancelled on Tuesday.
The staff member worked at the West Footscray Customer Fullfillment Centre, which services Melbourne’s north and western suburbs from Weribee to Epping.
It was closed for a deep-clean on Sunday night.
Woolworths has been forced to cancel its delivery services for a second time after an employee working out of its Melbourne distribution center tested positive for COVID-19 (pictured, a delivery truck in Melbourne)
Staff members are understood found out about their colleague before being notified by management, but it was repeatedly denied by a site supervisor as a ‘rumour’, reported the Age.
Management later verified staff’s fears about the positive test and ordered a number of the employee’s close contacts to self-isolate while they await results of their own tests.
A spokesperson for Woolworths told Daily Mail Australia that as a number of staff are self-isolating they’re unable to operate the facility at full capacity.
The spokesperson said the staff shortage will impact deliveries across Victoria – but claimed the effect will be minimal, as the centre only represents five per cent of the state’s daily deliveries.
‘A number of team members at the Footscray West CFC are being tested for COVID-19 and are now self-isolating while they await their results.’
The West Footscray Customer Fullfillment Centre (pictured) which services Melbourne’s north and western suburbs from Weribee to Epping was closed for a deep-clean on Sunday night
A man wears a face mask as a preventative measure against coronavirus at a checkout in a Woolworths supermarket in Coburg, Melbourne (pictured)
‘We’re boosting delivery capacity out of our Melbourne supermarkets to help fulfill online orders over the coming days.’
The female staff member worked at the Customer Fulfilment Centre in West Footscray in inner-west Melbourne for four shifts while potentially contagious.
However Woolworths management says they’re confident strict hygiene measures have restricted the spread and there is no threat to public safety.
‘We have been advised by health authorities that the risk of COVID contamination from products received from the West Footscray CFC is extremely low. There has been no evidence of transmission through products,’ the spokeswoman said.
Woolworths will continue to monitor the health and welfare of impacted employees, the spokeswoman said.
‘We’re continuing to make contact with our CFC team members and will provide our full support to those required to self-isolate at home in line with the advice from the Health Department.’
The supermarket giant was forced to bring back item limits in Victoria after a second round of panic buying began in June (pictured, a shelf in Melbourne on June 26)