Walmart to begin checking temps, giving masks and gloves to associates

Walmart announced changes on Tuesday geared towards slowing the spread of COVID19 in their stores.

In a corporate posting made available on Twitter, the retail giant made several announcements concerning the treatment of their store associates.

From the blog posting:

“As the COVID-19 situation has evolved, we’ve decided to begin taking the temperatures of our associates as they report to work in stores, clubs and facilities, as well as asking them some basic health screening questions. We are in the process of sending infrared thermometers to all locations, which could take up to three weeks.

Any associate with a temperature of 100.0 degrees will be paid for reporting to work and asked to return home and seek medical treatment if necessary. The associate will not be able to return to work until they are fever-free for at least three days.

While the CDC and other health officials do not recommend masks or gloves for healthy people who don’t ordinarily use them for their jobs, we will make them available — as supplies permit — for associates who want to wear them.

This week we are also sharing a new framework with associates regarding healthy behaviors at work. We’re asking them to remember three numbers: 6, 20 and 100.

6 feet is the amount of space people should keep from others, when possible, to maintain social distancing.

20 seconds is the amount of time people should take to wash their hands with soap and water.

And 100 is the temperature that someone should stay home with.”