Rayville WalMart to close until Thursday

The Rayville Wal-Mart will be closed Tuesday afternoon and all day Wednesday as part of the store's COVID-19 response.

Wal-Mart issued the following statement explaining the temporary closure.

“As an essential business and member of the Rayville community, we understand the role we play in providing our customers with food, medicine, and other essential items during this unprecedented time. We also understand Louisiana has been hit especially hard by COVID-19.

“As a proactive measure, we have decided to temporarily close our store at 1806 S Julia Street in Rayville to the public on Tuesday, July 28 and all-day Wednesday, July 29, as part of a company-initiated program. This will allow extra time for a third-party specialist to further sanitize the store. It will also give our associates additional time to restock shelves and prepare the store to serve the community once again. We plan to reopen the store to customers at 7 a.m. on Thursday, July 30.

“Everything we’re doing is for the well-being of our associates and customers, and in consideration of guidance by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and health experts. When the store reopens on Thursday, we will continue to conduct associate health screens and temperature checks, provide associates with face masks and gloves, and require associates and customers to wear a mask or other facial covering. These protocols are in addition to the extensive measures we’ve put in place during the past several weeks to help protect our associates and customers, including installing sneeze guards at registers, limiting the number of customers in a store at any one time, enacting one-way aisle shopping, placing social distancing signage, and enacting an emergency leave policy for associates who are unable or uncomfortable coming to work.

“We will continue working closely with health officials and adjusting how we serve the community, while also keeping the health and safety of our customers and associates in mind.”