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Richmond Hill Home Depot confirms 14 staff test positive for coronavirus

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A Home Depot in Richmond Hill says that 14 of its staff members have tested positive for coronavirus.

Paul Berto, director of corporate communications for The Home Depot Canada, confirmed the news Tuesday.

Berto said that while no further information can be provided due to privacy issues, the company is taking the situation “very seriously” and is working with York Region Public Health (YRPH).

The health unit confirmed to Global News that the outbreak affected multiple departments in the store, located at 50 Red Maple Road.

YRPH said it conducted an assessment and they believe the risk to the public is low.

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It said they are following up with close contacts of the confirmed cases and will be doing a follow-up inspection of the store itself, as well.

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The store was closed overnight for deep cleaning and sanitization.

“Across all of our stores and facilities we’ve asked associates that do not feel well to stay home, we continue to limit customer entry, enforce social distancing measures,” Berto said.

“[We] have increased efforts to disinfect high-traffic and high-touch areas like self-checkout, door handles, and bathrooms, as well as posting signage about handwashing and other preventative actions.”

YRPH said it recommended to Home Depot to have all employees tested for COVID-19. It also said any customers who may have shopped at the location between May 30 and June 9 and had interactions with an employee for longer than 10 minutes and within six feet, should self-monitor for 14 days.

They can also go for testing at an assessment centre in the area.

As of Tuesday, Ontario had 32,554 coronavirus cases and 2,538 total deaths.

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