Woolies’ rolls out new measures to stop spread of coronavirus
If you want to shop at Woolies this weekend don’t forget to leave the cash at home and stand a safe distance from other shoppers. These are some of the supermarket giant’s new rules to stop the spread of coronavirus.
National
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Shoppers will have to adhere to strict social distancing rules in one of the nation’s largest supermarkets from Saturday.
Woolworths has rolled out a series of new measures amid the COVID-19 pandemic which will force Australians to keep a safe distance from one another, have clean hands and refrain from paying by cash.
Many Woolworths staff, including checkout operators, will also start wearing protective gloves from Saturday.
In a notice issued to millions of Woolworths’ customers, the company’s chief executive officer Brad Banducci said “it is no longer business as usual”.
“These are undoubtedly testing times for all Australians given the impact of COVID-19 is having on the way we live,” he said.
“We have introduced some sensible guidelines for social distancing in store.”
Similar measures have also been rolled out in other countries across the globe in a bid to stop the spread of the virus.
Supermarkets have been inundated by a huge influx of customers in recent weeks which has resulted in empty shelves amid the panic-buying by millions of Australians.
But in a bid to help cope with the masses of shoppers flooding stores, supermarkets nationally rolled out a dedicated shopping hour each day for the elderly and vulnerable between 7 and 8am on weekdays.
Woolworths confirmed this will continue again next week from Monday for another five days.
Stores nationally will also shut at 8pm each night to allow for the restocking of items.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison sent a stern message to Australians earlier in the week to stop hoarding.
“Australians should stop hoarding, there is not a shortage of product,” he said.
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“I can’t be more blunt about it. Stop it. It is not sensible, it is not helpful and it is one of the most disappointing things I’ve seen in Australian behaviour in response to this crisis.”
Woolworths also said the suspension of pick up in all stores would continue for now and home deliveries will be paused in many areas.
Mr Banducci said the time spent cleaning stores has also increased from five to 10 hours per day and they have upgraded to hospital-grade disinfectant and are focused on regular cleaning of counters and other surfaces.
Originally published as Woolies’ rolls out new measures to stop spread of coronavirus
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