A Portland Whole Foods Employee Has Died of Coronavirus

A Portland grocery worker has died of COVID-19, KGW first reported. A spokesperson from Whole Foods confirmed that an employee of the Pearl District location has died of the virus, though the company has yet to release the employee’s name or role within the store.

Whole Foods is withholding identifying information “respecting the family’s wishes and privacy,” a Whole Foods spokesperson says. Meanwhile, another Portland Whole Foods employee has tested positive for the virus, at the Hollywood location. A prepared statement from the company notes that Whole Foods has upped its safety and sanitation protocol to help contain the spread of COVID-19, closing locations two hours early to give employees time to sanitize and restock.

These two Whole Foods employees are far from the first Portland-area grocery store workers to contract the virus; three Winco employees tested positive for the virus earlier this month, and a Fred Meyer employee tested positive for the virus in March. According to Johns Hopkins, there have been 542 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Multnomah County, and 29 deaths.

• Whole Foods [Official]
• Portland Whole Foods Employee Dies From Coronavirus [OPB]
• Portland Whole Foods employee dies of COVID-19; another tests positive [KGW]
• A Worker at a Northeast Portland Fred Meyer Store Tests Positive for COVID-19 [WWeek]
• Three WinCo Foods Employees Have Tested Positive for COVID-19 [EPDX]