Walmart to check temperatures of workers to prevent coronavirus spread

Walmart will check employees’ temperatures at the start of their shifts to prevent them from working with coronavirus, company executives said Tuesday. Walmart and Sam’s Club staffers who give a reading of at least 100 degrees will be sent home until they go three days without a fever, company officials said. Sick employees will still …

Walmart will check employees’ temperatures at the start of their shifts to prevent them from working with coronavirus, company executives said Tuesday.

Walmart and Sam’s Club staffers who give a reading of at least 100 degrees will be sent home until they go three days without a fever, company officials said. Sick employees will still get paid for reporting to work if they’re told to leave, the execs said.

“Many associates have already been taking their own temperatures at home, and we’re asking them to continue that practice as we start doing it on-site,” Walmart US president and CEO John Furner and Sam’s Club president and CEO Kath McLay said in a Tuesday announcement.

Walmart is distributing infrared thermometers to all its locations, which could take up to three weeks, according to the company. Employees will also be asked basic health questions along with the temperature screening, the executives said.

The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission gave companies the green light earlier this month to check employees’ body temperatures amid the coronavirus pandemic, though the agency notes that some people with the potentially deadly virus don’t have a fever.

Walmart will also provide masks and gloves for employees who want to wear them, Furner and McLay said. The retail giant has also closed stores overnight for cleaning and begun installing sneeze guards to protect cashiers from the virus.

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