Meijer confirmed Saturday, April 11 that its first employees have died from COVID-19.
"We are deeply saddened to confirm that we have recently lost our first Meijer team members as a result of complications due to COVID-19," said a statement from a company spokesperson.
Meijer did not provide additional details about which stores the employees worked for to protect their privacy. However, they have confirmed one COVID-19 case at their Cedar Springs store.
"Our team members are the heart of our stores. Every member of our team is a member of the Meijer family and this loss is deeply felt by all of us, especially those at the impacted stores," a statement said. "We share our profound condolences with the team members’ families and friends as they process this loss during these extraordinarily difficult times."
Meijer said they told the staff of the affected stores about the deaths, and they are providing crisis counseling to those who may need it.
This announcement follows the news that four Michigan Kroger employees have died from the virus. These are the first reported COVID-19 deaths of grocery store workers in Michigan.
Meijer said it is continuing to follow detailed cleaning and screening protocol to protect the safety of their team members and customers.
In Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's revised stay at home executive order, which extends the shelter-in-place until May 1, big box stores have been mandated to limit the number of customers in the store and create shopping hours for vulnerable customers.
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