Albertsons Companies Inc. says that the delta variant infection has skyrocketed in recent weeks and is preparing for a re-emergence of coronavirus restrictions.
Meanwhile, Walmart Told employees on friday If you work in a county where the virus infection is “substantial” or “high”, you will be required to wear a mask. Most of Idaho, include Ada County and Canyon County.. Customers are “strongly” encouraged to mask, but they don’t have to.
So far, Albertsons has refrained from requiring customers and employees to resume wearing masks. Signs outside the store recommend masks to customers who have not been vaccinated against the coronavirus, but they are not required.
“We’re starting to talk about it. We’re ready,” said Albertsons CEO Vivek Sankaran. Told the Wall Street Journal Note that on Thursday, the 7-day average for new cases every day is similar to that of a year ago. “We shouldn’t ignore it.”
Wal-Mart sent a note to all employees on Friday, “We follow the latest CDC guidance. This is a complete vaccination wearing a mask in high or high infection rates in public indoor environments. Includes people who have received it and will take effect immediately. ”The memo contained a link to. Map of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Use color-coded transmission rate levels for each county in the United States.
Wal-Mart said in an email to Statesman that payments to vaccinated employees would double to $ 150.
“I know that vaccination is a solution to drive change,” Wal-Mart said in a letter to employees.
Following an order from Mayor Lauren McLean, masks have been required at all Boise stores since July 2020. This requirement was later extended to all other Albertsons stores in Idaho. It was lifted in May after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said vaccinated people no longer needed to wear masks indoors.
Last week, the CDC recommended that fully vaccinated people wear masks when they are indoors in the public in areas with a “substantial or highly infected” coronavirus.
It’s unclear if Albertsons, the owner of several Boise-based grocery chains across the country, will soon set new requirements as infection rates have risen in recent weeks.
“I have no further comments at this time,” Albertsons spokesman Dennis Berger said in an email on Friday.
Fred Meyer continues to keep wearing a mask as an option.
is more than 612,000 Americans Dead According to Johns Hopkins University, 34.8 million people are infected with the coronavirus.
The Washington Post on Thursday quoted a federal internal document that the delta mutant causes more serious illness than previous mutants and spreads as easily as chickenpox.
On Friday, the newspaper reported it Three-quarters of infected people Recently, it was completely vaccinated by the Delta subspecies of Massachusetts.
Sankaran’s statement comes from Albertsons reporting that first-quarter same-store sales were down 10% compared to a year ago. Same-store sales in the first quarter of 2020 increased by 26.5%.
Still, sales increased 16.5% compared to the first quarter of 2019 before the pandemic.
Adjusted net income was $ 517.5 million, down from $ 812.0 million in the first quarter of 2020. Profit per share totaled 89 cents, higher than analysts predicted 67 cents.
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This grocery chain in Idaho no longer requires masks for fully vaccinated people