{"id":807628,"date":"2020-05-19T19:15:00","date_gmt":"2020-05-20T01:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/?p=383568"},"modified":"2020-05-19T19:15:00","modified_gmt":"2020-05-20T01:15:00","slug":"breckenridge-city-market-outbreak-grows-to-18-as-some-employees-worry-about-going-to-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/local-news\/breckenridge-city-market-outbreak-grows-to-18-as-some-employees-worry-about-going-to-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Breckenridge City Market outbreak grows to 18 as some employees worry about going to work"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image p402_hide\">\n<div class=\"caption-container\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/05\/Citymarket-SDN-052020-1024x683.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/05\/Citymarket-SDN-052020-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/05\/Citymarket-SDN-052020-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/05\/Citymarket-SDN-052020-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/05\/Citymarket-SDN-052020-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/05\/Citymarket-SDN-052020-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"><\/p><figcaption><strong>City Market in Breckenridge is pictured on Tuesday, May 19. Concerned employees contacted the Summit Daily News regarding the recent COVID-19 outbreak.<\/strong><br \/><em>Liz Copan \/ ecopan@summitdaily.com<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>BRECKENRIDGE \u2014 An outbreak of 18 cases of the novel coronavirus at the City Market in Breckenridge has left some employees feeling uneasy about their safety at work.<\/p>\n<p>Summit County Public Health announced April 29 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/8-breckenridge-city-market-employees-test-positive-for-coronavirus\/\">an initial outbreak of eight cases<\/a> at the store and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/breckenridge-city-market-coronavirus-outbreak-grows-to-17-employees\/\">increased that number to 17<\/a> on May 7. On Tuesday, Summit County Nurse Manager Sara Lopez said another probable case has been identified.<\/p>\n<p>Those who tested positive have been asked to self-isolate, and their close contacts have been quarantined. For the other employees, who have tested negative and aren\u2019t deemed close contacts, the message from management is clear: keep quiet and continue working.<\/p>\n<p>Two people who are connected to the store have shared their experiences with the Summit Daily News on the condition they be granted anonymity to protect the jobs of those working at the store.<\/p>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col\" readability=\"6\">\n<div class=\"row sd-donation sd-donation-mobile p-0\" readability=\"7\">\n<div class=\"col-xl-4 p-2\">\n<div data-bg=\"url(https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/03\/SDN-logo-white-1.png)\" class=\"p-0 mt-2 mb-2 h-75 text-center rocket-lazyload\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/03\/SDN-logo-white-1.png\" class=\"logo m-0 p-0 invisible\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><h3 class=\"d-inline mr-3\">Support Local Journalism<\/h3>\n<p><button class=\"btn d-inline\" type=\"button\" onclick=\"handleDonationButtonClickMidArticle()\">Donate<\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>One woman, who has family that works at the store, said workers are being told to not talk with anyone about what is happening at the store or they could lose their jobs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think it\u2019s very dangerous for the employees and for the community,\u201d she said about the outbreak.<\/p>\n<p>She believes the store should be closed for at least a few days so everyone can be tested at the same time and then reopened once the results from those tests are in.<\/p>\n<p>The county has decided not to close the store because City Market has followed all of the recommendations outlined by public health officials, Summit County Communications Director Julie Sutor said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo shut down an essential business and remove grocery shopping from the entire Breckenridge area, with the exception of a couple small places where people can get groceries, that would be extremely disruptive to that community,\u201d Sutor said.<\/p>\n<p>County public health officials continue to say the risk to the public is low.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s really not a lot of risk for somebody going shopping,\u201d Lopez said. \u201cIs there no risk? We can\u2019t say that. I think the store is putting into place many measures, as much as they can be doing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The county has tested 90 of the store\u2019s 152 employees, Lopez said. While the county doesn\u2019t plan to provide more mass testing, City Market is providing employees with resources for how to be tested, Lopez said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe can\u2019t force people to get a test,\u201d Lopez said.<\/p>\n<p>A man who works at the store and has tested positive for the virus said the store managers have been great to him since he first received the test.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey were really good about it,\u201d he said. \u201cFor me being out of work for this long, I\u2019ve been supported really well by Kroger.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Since the outbreak, City Market has taken precautions by cleaning the store, closing the break room and requiring that everyone wear masks. They are sanitizing carts before and after each use, keeping cashiers behind a plexiglass barrier, implementing one-way traffic flows and marking 6-foot measurements in checkout areas.<\/p>\n<p>The man said the biggest problem in the store was its break room.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a very small break room,\u201d he said. \u201cIn that break room is about a 10-by-8 space with a table in the middle. At any given time, you have maybe four, five, six employees sitting in there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The woman said the store\u2019s attempts to require everyone to wear masks haven\u2019t gone well.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome customers, they refuse to wear (masks), and they let them in anyway,\u201d she said. \u201cThis happens every single day. So that\u2019s not going to stop.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The man said he also noticed people not wearing masks at the store before he went into quarantine, but he doesn\u2019t blame those people for getting him sick.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere were still folks around the city who did not want to abide by the rules or just didn\u2019t have a way to have an issued mask,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The store has asked everyone who is considered a close contact of those who tested positive to quarantine for 14 days. Lopez said the county is using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention\u2019s definition of close contact, which is someone who was within 6 feet of a positive case for more than 10 minutes.<\/p>\n<p>Lopez said the county determines close contacts by interviewing people who test positive. She said the county asks patients about their family members, roommates, friends at work or anyone who they might have hung out with for a prolonged period of time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn these instances, it\u2019s a collaboration between what the person tells us and the information we can get from the employer,\u201d Lopez said.<\/p>\n<p>The woman said all employees should be considered close contacts.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEverybody\u2019s working together. Everybody\u2019s touching everything,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>The man said it\u2019s possible for workers to maintain a 6-foot distance, but it\u2019s going to take a lot of effort and require workers to rethink the way they do things.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s possible,\u201d he said. \u201cYou want to do the customer service thing and help that person and walk up to them. Nowadays, that\u2019s asking for trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Employees who don\u2019t feel safe going to work are not offered paid leave, the woman said. Only people who are deemed close contacts are able to miss work while still being paid.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey\u2019re making people work,\u201d she said. \u201cThey\u2019re like, \u2018If you want to go, OK, but you will take vacation time.\u2019 It seems like they are putting business before people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sutor said it\u2019s important to note that anyone can get the virus when they are out in public.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis virus is circulating in the community right now,\u201d Sutor said. \u201cWe know that to be true. We have continued to see new cases. People should assume they will encounter this virus, and that\u2019s why all of these protective measures are important.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lopez said the investigation is ongoing and won\u2019t be resolved until 28 days without a new case. Representatives from City Market did not respond to multiple requests for comment.<\/p>\n<p>Also Tuesday, Lopez said the City Market store in Dillon has had three cases among its workers, two of which are probable, meaning they have not been tested but have symptoms. The county does not yet consider the cases at the Dillon store to be an outbreak since it\u2019s likely the employees got the virus from an outside source.<\/p>\n<p>The Lowe\u2019s store in Silverthorne also has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/covid-19-outbreak-reported-at-silverthorne-lowes\/\">experienced an outbreak of three cases.<\/a> The store has put measures in place to contain the spread of the virus.<\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/breckenridge-city-market-outbreak-grows-to-18-as-some-employees-worry-about-going-to-work\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: Summit Daily<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>City Market in Breckenridge is pictured on Tuesday, May 19. Concerned employees contacted the Summit Daily News regarding the recent COVID-19 outbreak.Liz Copan \/ ecopan@summitdaily.com BRECKENRIDGE \u2014 An outbreak of 18 cases of the novel coronavirus at the City Market in Breckenridge has left some employees feeling uneasy about their safety at work. Summit County [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-807628","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-10 16:03:13","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSMT The Mountain","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=807628"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807628\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=807628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=807628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=807628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}