Walmart closes 2 Houston-area stores for disinfecting
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Walmart will be sanitizing and restocking shelves at two Houston stores today.
The two locations will be closed all day and will reopen Friday morning: 2727 Dunvale Rd. and 3450 FM-1960 Rd. W.
A Walmart spokesperson told ABC13 they understand Harris County has been hit hard by COVID-19, so as a proactive measure they've decided to close the stores to allow a third party specialist to come in and sanitize them.
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The closure will also give employees more time to restock.
Walmart's statement said in-part:
"Everything we're doing is for the well-being of our associates and customers, and in consideration of guidance by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and health experts. When the store reopens on Friday, we will continue to conduct associate health screens and temperature checks, provide associates with facemasks and gloves and require associates and customers to wear a mask or other facial covering. These protocols are in addition to the extensive measures we've put in place during the past several weeks to help protect our associates and customers, including installing sneeze guards at registers, limiting the number of customers in a store at any one time, enacting one-way aisle shopping, placing social distancing signage, and enacting an emergency leave policy for associates who are unable or uncomfortable coming to work."
SEE ALSO: Walmart to require customers to wear face masks at all its stores
This comes as Walmart announced it will start requiring people to wear masks at all of its stores starting next week.
So far, it's the largest retailer to do so.
Stores have been doing health screenings and temperature checks for employees when they come into work.
You can read more about Walmart's efforts to protect employees and customers on their COVID-19 response website.
