by Kirsten Moore, Cooperative Services Director
The Omicron variant has changed the trajectory of the COVID-19 pandemic globally, nationally, locally, and at your Co-op. We continue to take the pandemic and the necessary protocols to keep our employees and customers safe very seriously, and the numbers we have to report below are a testament to our efforts. December and January have not been an easy time for anyone, and we appreciate your continued support and dedication to keeping each other safe.
Omicron Variant Increases Positive Case Reports
As the Omicron variant has shifted COVID-19 statistics throughout Dane County, the Co-op has also seen a recent increase in positive cases in our workforce. At the time of writing on the week ending January 16, the Co-op had received 44 reports of employees testing positive for COVID-19 since March 30, 2020. Of those 44, 28 had been reported since December 18, 2021 (two days after the Omicron variant was reported as detected in Dane County). Here is how the Co-op’s percent positivity among our workforce compares to average percent positivity rates throughout Dane County:
Employee Symptoms, Exposures, Positive Tests
The Co-op is committed to providing as safe an environment as possible for employees and customers, and we strictly follow Public Health Madison and Dane County (PHMDC) guidelines and public health orders. Everyone who works at the Co-op is required to report when they are experiencing symptoms, have been exposed to someone positive (either at work or elsewhere), or test positive themselves for COVID-19. When an employee makes a report of exposure, symptoms, or testing positive for COVID-19, the Co-op then uses the most recent PHMDC guidance to determine if an employee needs to quarantine or isolate, and when employees who are in quarantine or isolation can start to be considered for return to work. Medical advice employees receive from their healthcare provider is also considered and takes precedence over PHMDC guidance for when an employee can return.
The Co-op investigates for potential exposure at the Co-op whenever a positive test is reported. Investigation involves interviewing the infected employee and their manager about when they worked, where they worked, and who they worked with (employees, customers, or service providers) during the time period PHMDC considers contagious. When an infected employee works in areas that have security camera surveillance, we also use footage to review for any potential exposures. Between the interview and the footage available, we use PHMDC’s close contact criteria to decide who to notify that they may have been exposed to COVID-19. Service providers and any customers we have contact information for would also be notified if we had reason to believe they were exposed. We provide PHMDC’s exposure guidance to employees both when employees report exposure to COVID-19 themselves and when we identify employees as potentially exposed in the workplace.
From the beginning of the pandemic through January 16, the Co-op has made 102 notifications of potential exposure at the Co-op. At the time of writing, only one service provider outside of our workforce had been identified as potentially exposed, and no customers have been identified as having 15 minutes or more close contact with our employees. Of those 102 notifications of potential exposure, only one of those people so far has tested positive for COVID-19, and their case also did not appear to be related to the potential exposure we identified.
Learn About Recent Positive Cases At Retails
If you are concerned about whether or not you were shopping on a day that an employee who tested positive for COVID-19 may have been contagious while working, you can visit our website at www.willystreet.coop/coronavirus. We also post signs outside all our buildings when an employee tests positive for COVID-19 and may have been working at that site during their contagious period.
Staffing Levels
As positive cases, symptoms, and exposures increased around the New Year, the Co-op also has had to make operational decisions that allow for us to provide as many services as we possibly can with the workforce available. You may have noticed some changes to store hours overall at some locations, and some services with limited availability as well. Thank you for your patience and understanding while we continue to prioritize our employees’ and your safety at the Co-op. You can find information about current store hours and changes to services on our website at www.willystreet.coop/when-open.
Capacity and Customer Traffic Averages
A few customers have asked about whether the Co-op intends to limit capacity due to the increase in COVID-19 cases throughout Dane County. Since PHMDC lifted orders limiting capacity in June of 2021, the COVID-19 Team comprised of managers and staff representing the employees’ union have been monitoring the average traffic capacity at the stores at peak times. We calculate maximum capacity based on the criteria of one person per 60 square feet on the retail floor (instead of gross square feet for the entire building). Each time we meet, we review the previous two weeks of employee and customer traffic in the stores, using statistics from a door tracking device at our stores called SafeCount. Since we started monitoring, we are seeing an average peak capacity daily at East of 57%, 36% at North, and 43% at West. We also notice that we are still seeing less transactions per hour at our retails than pre-pandemic, and higher basket sizes (the average amount spent per transaction). This indicates that people in our community are still in the habit of shopping less often and purchasing more groceries to last them a longer period of time. The last time we reviewed a comparison on transactions per hour were over the weeks of Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, and we noted that transactions at East were at 68%, North were at 85%, and West were at 80% of the volume of transactions per hour during the same time period before the pandemic in 2019. Based on what we are seeing related to foot traffic and transaction activity, we do not believe that we need to limit the capacity of customers to ensure ample space to shop safely.
Recent Agreement with UE1186
The Co-op has had temporary agreements with our employees’ union throughout the pandemic, and they have been renewed regularly with updates based on the current situation. On January 11 the most recent agreement went into effect and will remain in effect until April 11, 2022. Both the Co-op and UE1186 agree that keeping the Co-op safe during this period of the pandemic requires the Co-op to continue to promote and support vaccine efforts; upholding workplace safety best practices such as face covering use, social distancing, and high expectations for hygiene and cleanliness; and an acceptance of personal responsibility throughout the workforce both on and off the clock. The current agreement continues to extend 10 minute break periods to 15 to accommodate for more rest while having to wear a face covering throughout the working day, offers paid vaccination and booster leave, and offers either paid COVID-19 leave, emergency unpaid leave, or expanded family and medical leave (eFLMA) to employees based on meeting certain criteria. The Co-op is also providing a starter kit of KN95/N95 respirators to employees who would like to voluntarily wear them. All employees are currently eligible to receive 12 respirators, which amounts to providing one per week for employees through April 11, 2022.
The recent agreement with the employees’ union also put efforts in motion to comply with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) emergency temporary standard related to vaccination and testing of employees in businesses with over 100 workers. We agreed to prepare for compliance as we had been doing, and also continue to monitor OSHA requirements with the ability to amend, revise, or discontinue the policy as needed. At the time of writing, the Supreme Court of the United States had blocked the mandate in its current iteration. The Co-op’s workforce continues to report vaccination rates that align with vaccination rates in Dane County.
Our Heartfelt Gratitude Every Day
The information we report this month isn’t easy to report, but also shows that our efforts to keep each other safe have kept the Co-op as safe as possible. The fact that we still see fewer cases reported among our workforce than locally, and the fact that we haven’t seen any cases at the Co-op that were related to each other, that is a testament to all of our managers and employees: we are committed to keeping each other safe. It is also a testament to our Owners and customers, the vast majority of which respect our face covering policies and demonstrate concern for our well-being. We are hoping that the reports we hear about Omicron are true and that it has resulted in mostly mild infections and that it will cease to be such a dominant force in our communities very soon. If you or your loved ones have been infected with the coronavirus at any time throughout the pandemic, we hope you all are well and we wish you the best in your recovery and ongoing journey. And if you have been lucky enough to escape COVID-19’s path, we wish you and yours continued luck. Thank you to all of you for your continued support of your Co-op, and interest in the safety of all of us who work here. Your appreciation for the work we do for you helps us get through the tough days, of which we hope are less frequent in days to come. Much gratitude to you.