A member of staff at a supermarket has tested positive for Covid-19, The Impartial Reporter has learned.

It’s understood the employee at Asda in Omagh began showing symptoms of the coronavirus over two weeks ago and has been self-isolating at home after testing positive for the disease.

The Impartial Reporter has been contacted by an employee who expressed concern that “more was not done” to warn workers at the supermarket on the Dromore Road "about the potential dangers".

“A number of staff have had to go into self-isolation because of this,” claimed the worker who says employees were "only informed" about the diagnosis earlier this week.

“Why have they not closed the store? Why has there not been a deep clean? We were all going mad when we were told. The management is not taking it seriously enough, nor or they putting the correct measures in place that should be there to protect the staff and the public,” said the employee.

It’s understood some employees have also claimed on social media that there are no hand sanitizers available in the store for staff.

Independent Councillor Donal O’Cofaigh said he raised the issue with Fermanagh and Omagh District Council’s Environmental Health department but was directed to the Public Health Agency “who have primary responsibility for enforcement”.

"I had been liaising with members of staff at ASDA in Omagh for some days as they had expressed concerns about the failure to enforce social distancing and the issuance of appropriate personal protective equipment but this morning they informed me that workers had been told a member of staff had tested positive for Covid-19,” he said.

Councillor O’Cofaigh says staff were “hugely concerned to hear this news” and added that they were “even more shocked, and indeed angered, when bosses said that there would be no deep-cleanse of the store.”

“This runs in direct contradiction to the guidance of the Public Health Agency which specifies in detail the need for a thoroughgoing decontamination. Workers who worked alongside the individual were expected to continue instead of self-isolating. It's a clear case of profits coming before public health.

"The first and deputy first ministers issued a statement warning businesses to abide by the safety guidance that has been issued. If this warning is to mean anything; it must be followed up by real action to stop businesses from taking risks with the lives of workers and the public,” he said.

A supermarket source said the store is cleaned at night and in a statement a spokesman for Asda told this newspaper: “We would never comment on an individual colleague, however we are staying close to the government guidance and should one of our colleagues feel any symptoms of coronavirus, we are asking them to self-isolate and are supporting them in doing so by providing full pay.

“Our customers can rest assured that we are following all government advice on ensuring our stores are safe and hygienic for our customers,” he said.