Experts say it may be time for grocery stores to ban customers from coming inside because of Covid-1

[orangecrush]

New York (CNN Business)Dozens of grocery store workers have died from the coronavirus, despite masks, temperature checks and capacity restrictions to keep them safe. So far, supermarkets have resisted the most draconian policy: banning customers from coming inside.


However, some worker experts, union leaders and small grocery owners believe it has become too dangerous to let customers browse aisles, coming into close range with workers. Grocery stores are still flooded with customers, and experts say it's time for large chains to go "dark" to the public and convert to curbside pickup and home delivery for food and other essential goods.
"Careless customers" are "probably the biggest threat" to workers right now, according to Marc Perrone, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers' union. The union said 85% of its grocery store member workers reported that customers are not practicing social distancing in stores.







https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/19/business/grocery-stores-coronavirus-pickup-delivery/index.html

[woodsprite]

1. Around my neck of the woods, we have yet to see store workers wearing masks

and the only ones wearing gloves were behind the deli counter.

I will say the checkout guy did have a mask on -- dangling down by one ear loop like an earring.

[jberryhill]

3. On the other hand...

Blowing up Paper Mill Road into Newark has been very effective....

Link to tweet

[woodsprite]

8. Wow! I haven't been down that way in over a month or 2!

At least with the quarantine, they think that the Main Street redo will be completed a bit early. We've avoided Main Street for the duration, and we only work a couple of blocks away, and live about 10 min away.

With over a year of major construction hurting business and now the quarantine, I don't know if the restaurants and shops will make it.

[jberryhill]

12. Well, here you go

I did a loop over to Newark and down Main Street before looping back along White Clay and Paper Mill....

[hlthe2b]

15. Exactly. Sick of seeing Walmart's, Target and other store employees not wearing masks

START THERE!

[Stinky The Clown]

4. It is time to start banning stupid customers

Remember the old "No Shirt. No Shoes. No Service" signs from decades ago?

How about "No Mask. No Gloves. No Common Sense. No Service"?

[malaise]

11. The little supermarket we use

has a guard at the door - he has a remote thermometer, hand sanitizer and hand towels
No one with a temperature of 100 or above is allowed in. Only ten persons are allowed in at a time and all staff have masks, gloves and a complete plastic shield over their faces. The guard wipes each cart before giving you.

[RhodeIslandOne]

18. Too bad so many carriers are asymptomatic.

Taking one's temp is likely to weed out one person a day, maybe.

[malaise]

19. Well there's that

but at least they are trying

[Lancero]

13. Yay placebo.

This is the kind of mask I see people around here wearing.

https://www.amazon.com/Face-Mask-Pack-of-50/dp/B086KMYNSS

This mask is not intended for medical use, and not proven to reduce the transmission of disease.

[rownesheck]

17. That looks like

the type my company provides us. Great.

[janterry]

5. Where is the data?

I've read about isolated cases of illness and even death. This is no way to determine how dangerous supermarkets are. I appreciate that the 'experts' are advocates.

But I'd prefer medical or research experts weighing in.

I've seen no real data to support this ban. I remain open to that information.

[customerserviceguy]

14. Agreed

Back before I retired, my job would have been a lot easier without those pesky customers, too.

[CurtEastPoint]

6. COVID 19

[madville]

7. I'd feel safer outside on the beach than packed in a grocery store

The grocery stores and Walmarts here in Florida are packed all day. I would say about 75% of workers and customers are wearing masks now.

[PSPS]

9. Not a single "expert" is quoted in the OP.

[LakeArenal]

10. There has to be more measures taken for non- distancers

Where I live there are strict rules for stores. You must wash your hands (there are sinks) or sanitizers and they wipe the cart down before you take the cart in. Limited people. Two per aisle.
They don’t want you to use your cloth bags. Want to use plastic. When you leave they swab the checkers counter and belt.

[Hortensis]

16. Support this 100%. Noticed the faces of the grocery checkers

had become grim my last 2 indoor grocery shoppings. They're typically middle-aged and more and know they're at unacceptable risk.

People are careless around them. Walmart has a plexiglass shield people supposed to stand behind while groceries are scanned and bagged. But the pay station is forward of that, and I watched 3 shoppers automatically stroll to it and wait, exposing themselves to two employees. Guessing the employees got tired of asking customers to return to the box on the floor where they're supposed to wait. I was aware because I'd done the same thing the first time.

[thesquanderer]

21. A flaw in the article's logic...

re:

Online pickup and delivery requires a much larger staff than grocery stores are currently equipped with. That could fill supermarkets to capacity with workers, defeating the purpose of removing the public from stores.

No, it doesn't defeat the purpose. Having the same 50 people with masks spending each day filling 500 people's orders results in a lot less exposure for the workers than having 500 different people come in... and another 500 the next day, etc.