A STORE worker has claimed staff are 'worried' for their health and safety after a colleague at Primark in Sunderland tested positive for Covid-19.

It has been claimed that staff working at the fashion store were not told whether they had been near, or worked alongside, the affected case.

The store, which is in The Bridges Shopping Centre, told staff that a colleague had tested positive for the virus on Saturday, September 12.

But the worker said staff felt 'betrayed' by the actions of Primark as the store was slammed for a 'lack of communication' regarding their safety. 

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Speaking to The Northern Echo, the worker said: "We haven’t been told the person’s name for 'GDPR' reasons and they won’t tell us who’s been near the affected person.

"There is around 200 people working here on both weekday and weekend shifts.

"Everyone feels betrayed because this person has been in work for the past week - and we've not had any information about it.

"We were informed of the positive test on Saturday but no-one was sent home."

The worker, who wishes to remain anonymous, claimed the only guidance given to staff following the positive test was that they should let the management team know if they begin to display symptoms.

The worker also raised further concerns over the method of deep cleaning that was used by Primark the following day and claimed staff had been left under the impression that the store would close. 

The worker said: "Primark said they’d been in touch with Public Health England and that they were satisfied with what they have done.

"We thought they were going to close for a deep clean, but then it was business as usual on Sunday.

"They said they’d done a deep clean, but they used our own cleaners and only did the store in two hours before we opened."

In response to the concerns raised, a spokesperson for Primark said: "We can confirm that an employee at our Sunderland store has tested positive for Covid-19.

"Nothing is more important than the safety and wellbeing of our customers and employees, and we have detailed contingency plans in place in case one of our employees tests positive.

"We have informed the public health authorities of this case and carried out a deep clean of the store as an additional precaution."

  • Sunderland City Council has been approached for comment.