Walmart vows to do 'deep cleaning' after two employees die of coronavirus at one store

Walmart stores promised to step up its cleaning efforts after two employees at one store died from complications due to COVID-19.

According to the Chicago Tribune, Walmart confirmed that two employees, ages 48 and 51, had passed away. Both employees worked in the Evergreen Park store and had medical complications.

The "48-year-old man had diabetes while the 51-year-old man was morbidly obese," the Tribune reported.

Walmart said that the employees had not been in the store for at least a week before they died.

“We are heartbroken to learn of the passing of two associates at our Evergreen Park store and we are mourning along with their families,” Walmart spokesperson Payton McCormick said in a statement. “While neither associate had been at the store in more than a week, we took action to reinforce our cleaning and sanitizing measures, which include a thorough deep cleaning of a key area of the store.”

McCormick noted that Walmart had hired an outside company to clean the Evergreen Park store. The store will also do temperature checks of employees.

Walmart has also placed limits on the number of customers who can be in the store at a given time.