COVID outbreaks hit Cypress Park Home Depot and Costco in Atwater Village

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By Melody Waintal
Jan 19, 2021
Jan 19, 2021
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Atwater Village Costco entrance on election day 2020 — The Costco Wholesale store in Atwater Village.
Photo by Jesus Sanchez

Two large big box retailers -- Costco in Atwater Village and Home Depot in Cypress Park -- have experienced two of the largest COVID-19 outbreaks on the Eastside, according to LA County public health reports.

County health officials track outbreaks of three or more people at workplaces. In recent weeks, large outbreaks have been reported among many large retailers, including Target and Whole Foods, according to the LA Times.

The latest figures show that 45 staff members were infected at Home Depot on Figueroa Street. The home improvement and hardware store is among 9 other Home Depots in Los Angeles County with outbreaks ranging from 15- 51 confirmed staff cases.

Home Depot spokeswoman Margaret Smith was unable to comment on the outbreak at the Cypress Park store but provided information the company's procedures in such cases.

"Our focus is the safety of our associates and customers," Smith said. "which is why we’ve implemented numerous safety measures including requiring masks, daily health checks for associates, social distancing and enhanced cleaning in addition to paid leave and time-off policies for associates which can be used for any reason."

Neither Smith or the health department were able to say when the outbreak took place. The store is currently open.

In Atwater Village, Costco Wholesale had 37 confirmed cases among workers, according to county figures.

One of the members of the management team at Costco said they had no comment on the Atwater Village outbreak but said they were following CDC guidelines.

The L.A. County Public Health website mentions the data "may not reflect real-time investigation counts" and can change daily gathered by public health investigators overseeing and supervising the investigation. It also states that being included on this list "does not suggest neglect or wrongdoing on the part of the facility."

The data has been taken from L.A. County Public Health's Location and Demographics page that was last updated January 13, 2021. Grey pins are Non-Residential Settings meeting the criteria of three or more laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases Blue pins are Educational Settings meeting the criteria of three or more laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases Yellow pins are Citations issued due to lack of compliance with health officer.