Hermiston Walmart closed until Monday

Published 12:37 pm Saturday, August 1, 2020

The Hermiston Walmart is closed on Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 1-2 and plans to reopen Monday, Aug. 3 at 7 a.m.

“As an essential business and member of the Hermiston community, we understand the role we play in providing our customers with food, medicine, and other essential items, especially at this time. We also understand this community has been hit especially hard by COVID-19,” the store said in a statement.

“Health officials are working to curb the impact of this pandemic, and we want to be a part of the solution. In support of this effort, we have chosen to take the proactive step to temporarily close our store at 1350 N 1st Street in Hermiston to the public on Saturday, August 1 and all-day Sunday, August 2, as part of a company-initiated program. This will allow extra time for a third-party specialist to further sanitize the store and give our associates additional time to restock shelves and prepare the store to serve the community once again. We plan to reopen the store to customers at 7 a.m. on Monday, August 3.”

The statement went on to say that the effort was for the well-being of staff and customers at the store, and once it reopens, they will continue safety measures such as temperature checks and masks for associates, sneeze guards, one-way aisles, mask requirements for customers and social distancing rules.

“We will continue working closely with health officials and adjusting how we serve the community while also keeping the health and safety of our customers and associates in mind,” the statement said in closing.

Oregon Health Authority’s weekly report of workplace outbreaks of COVID-19 for July 29 reported that 10 cases of COVID-19 had been linked to the store, either through employees testing positive or close contacts of those employees testing positive.