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NEW ORLEANS (WGNO)— Starting Thursday, December 30, at 2 p.m., the Walmart on 1901 Tchoupitoulas Street will be closed.

The location will be closed as part of a company-initiated program to allow third party cleaning crews time to thoroughly clean and sanitize the building. 

According to a Walmart spokesperson the location will remain closed through tomorrow, Dec. 31, providing associates time to restock shelves and prep the store to reopen on Jan. 1 at 6 a.m.

As an essential business and a member of the New Orleans community, we understand the role we play in providing our customers with food, medicine and other essential items, especially at this time. 

As you know, several areas across the country have begun seeing a renewed increase in positive COVID-19 cases, and we want to assist health officials working against the pandemic. In support of this effort, we have chosen to temporarily close our New Orleans store location at 1901 Tchoupitoulas today at 2 p.m. as part of an ongoing company-initiated program. This will allow extra time for a third-party specialist to further sanitize the store and will also give our associates additional time to restock shelves and prepare the store to once again serve the community. We plan to reopen the store to customers at 6 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 1.  

Everything we’re doing is for the well-being of our associates and the thousands of customers we serve daily, and in consideration of guidance by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and health experts. Given the rise in positive cases, we will follow CDC guidance, which includes fully vaccinated people wearing masks in public indoor settings in counties with substantial or high transmission. 

You can find the county-by-county breakdown here. The CDC updates its data on transmission rates weekly, so the guidance on mask usage is likely to change over time in different locations.