FairPrice Finest at Bedok Mall temporarily closed after employee diagnosed with Covid-19

SINGAPORE — The FairPrice Finest supermarket at Bedok Mall will be temporarily closed after an employee was diagnosed with Covid-19 on Tuesday (March 31).

In a media advisory on Wednesday, supermarket operator NTUC FairPrice said that the outlet will be shut for three days for deep cleaning and will reopen on April 4.

FairPrice said that the infected staff member works in the supermarket's backend replenishing stock and has minimal contact with customers.

The employee was last at work on March 25 and was on leave on March 26. The employee visited the doctor on March 27 for a fever and was given medical leave before being diagnosed with Covid-19 on Tuesday evening.

The employee has since been quarantined and is being monitored by medical personnel.

All staff members who work at the Bedok Mall outlet have been placed on a leave of absence.

FairPrice said that it is monitoring the situation closely and working with the authorities to help them with contact tracing. 

It added that precautionary measures had been taken since the onset of Covid-19 to maintain a "safe and clean environment".

These include stepping up cleaning regimes, especially for high-touch surfaces such as railings, trolleys, baskets and checkout counters, which are cleaned every four hours. All staff members and suppliers are also required to have their temperature taken at least twice a day.

For customers, hand sanitiser is available for them to use. They are also encouraged to maintain safe distancing, with floor markings at checkout queues, with posters and announcements in stores to remind them to do so.

"The co-operative apologises for any inconvenience caused and would like to assure the community that it is sparing no effort to protect its staff and customers so that they can continue to work and shop in a safe and healthy environment," FairPrice added.