Walmart said Tuesday it is deploying an emergency employee leave program as the retailer confirms one of its store associates in Cynthiana, Kentucky, has tested positive for the coronavirus.
The infected employee is a woman and Walmart said she is improving with medical care.
The new policy comes as the coronavirus spreads throughout many U.S. states where the retailer operates. Walmart is the nation’s largest private employer with 1.5 million workers in the U.S. According to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, there are at least 761 cases of COVID-19 that have been diagnosed in the United States, and at least 27 people have died in the U.S. from the virus.