Walmart temporarily shut nearly 60 US stores for Covid-19 cleaning in December

[CHICAGO] Walmart temporarily shut almost 60 US stores in Covid-19 hotspots in December to sanitise them against the virus, in a sign the new Omicron variant is disrupting the retail industry.

The Walmart stores - in locations including Texas and New Jersey - were closed for cleaning "to present a safe and clean in-store environment for our associates and customers," a company spokesperson told Reuters in a statement. Walmart has more than 4,700 US locations in total.

It adopted a policy two years ago at the start of the coronavirus pandemic of closing stores for fewer than two days to "get ahead" of potential outbreaks.

REUTERS