Belmont Star Market employee dies from coronavirus complications

An employee at the Star Market in Belmont who last worked April 4 has died from complications of the novel coronavirus, the company said Tuesday night.

“Our hearts are heavy, and our thoughts are with that associate’s family,” the company said in a statement. “This is a difficult day for the entire Star market team.”

The worker is believed to be the third supermarket employee in Massachusetts to have died because of the coronavirus. Vitalina Williams, who worked at a Market Basket in Salem and a Walmart in Lynn, died April 4. Leon Marin, who worked at a Swampscott Whole Foods Market, died April 15.

The Belmont Star Market has undergone “multiple cycles of our enhanced cleaning, sanitizing and disinfecting process” since April 4, the company said. After the employee tested positive for COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, the company conducted a thorough cleaning and sanitizing of the store, it said.

Store employees in mourning can access counselors through the company’s employee assistance program, it said. Workers have been re-instructed to wash their hands and disinfect checkout counters hourly and to practice social distancing, in light of the death, the company said.

Employees with any symptoms of the virus are told to stay home and contact a healthcare provider.