Walmart temporarily closes stores in South Philly and Williamstown, NJ amid rise in COVID cases
A company spokesperson said the stores in South Philly and Williamstown, NJ will be sanitized by a third party during the closure.
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Walmart announced Tuesday it has temporarily closed two local stores.
The store at 1675 S. Christopher Columbus Boulevard in South Philadelphia and the store on South Black Horse Pike in Williamstown, New Jersey closed at 2 p.m. Tuesday and will reopen at 6 a.m. Thursday.
A company spokesperson said the stores will be sanitized by a third-party company and restocked during that time.
A press release from Walmart said it is making this move to assist local health officials amid rising COVID-19 cases.
The company said the closures are part of an "ongoing company-initiated program" that began in 2020 to clean stores amid the pandemic.
"This is a proactive measure, based on market-specific data," company spokesperson Ashley Nolan told Action News.
In December, 60 stores nationwide were temporarily closed as part of this program.
The company said it will conduct employee health assessments at the store when it reopens.
It also says it is following CDC guidance to require fully vaccinated people to wear masks indoors in counties with substantial or high transmission.
The CDC currently identifies Philadelphia as a county with high transmission.
