If you're the person that does the grocery routine for your home during Coronavirus quarantine, experts now want you to stop doing it. According to the report, professionals from different groups ask authorities to let grocery stores do alternatives in delivering goods, aside from opening their stores to the public. This was after a union study shows 85% of people inside stores do not practice proper social distancing, experts suggest alternatives like a drive-through, pick-up, or online shopping.
85% of people don't follow distancing in grocery stores; Here's what experts want now
According to a CNN report, worker experts, union leaders, and small grocery owners think that grocery stores should now consider other alternatives in delivering goods to the public. They believe that opening grocery stores every day is a dangerous thing to do for the public. Worse, union groups found out that only 15 percent of store-goers follow proper social distancing every time they are inside the stores-- causing higher chances of transmitting the virus.
"Anything that reduces the need for interaction with the public and allows for greater physical distancing will ultimately better protect grocery workers," said John Logan, professor and director of Labor and Employment Studies at San Francisco State University.
Marc Perrone, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers' union, even called 'careless customers' as 'probably the biggest threat' during this lockdown period.
Most small grocery owners already have their businesses closed to protect their staff from the virus. One example was Mike Houston, general manager of Takoma Park Silver Spring Co-op in Takoma Park, Maryland.
"It was clearer that there was no real way to protect my staff and the public, especially as we served 960 people a day on average in a 4,200-square-foot store," Houston said. "I'm unwilling to put grocery store employees, essential though we are, in a position to risk what can be a fatal infection."
Though it is a safe move, not every supermarket can do this, according to Seth Harris, former deputy secretary of labor during the Obama administration.
If grocery stores aren't safe, where will we buy food?
Experts already suggested that grocery businesses should allow pick-up, drive-through, or online shopping if the public wants to stay away from the crowd. However, these suggestions were criticized by other experts claiming that Americans are not yet ready with this swift change if applied.
"We have no choice. They have to stay open. [America's grocery] delivery system has not matured to the point where we can switch to an entirely remote system," said Harris of Obama Administration.
Charlane Obernauer, executive director of the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health, also contradicts these suggestions.
"Workers would still have exposure if they are delivering goods or if they are in the supermarket," explains her.
However, if you can do online shopping, this could be the best alternative if you don't want the virus to reach you outside homes.
