Europe stores set up senior shopping hours amid coronavirus fears

As senior citizens deal with anxiety about coronavirus, grocery store chains and or retailers have come up with a way to ease ir fears: shopping times reserved exclusively for m. Target, Whole Foods, Walmart and Dollar General, as well as supermarkets in Europe, began dedicating early morning shopping times for older customers this week.

ory is that allowing seniors to shop among smaller crowds could reduce ir chances of acquiring virus and give m first crack at buying hand sanitizer and or products that have been hard to find because of panic shopping.

idea seems to have worked well in smaller shops but backfired in some larger stores, where big crowds me “social distancing" difficult.

“If you didn’t have coronavirus before you got re, you probably do w," said Roger Glenn Miller, 82, after he showed up Thursday morning at a Stop & Shop grocery store in rth Providence, Rhode Island, along with about 200 or seniors.

Don Gregson, 81, h a similar experience at same Stop & Shop. Gregson said he expected to shop with a small group of seniors but inste found aisles crowded with people.

When he saw number of people in store, Gregson slipped on a surgical mask he carries in his pocket, n bought 4 gallons (15 liters) of distilled water for machine he needs for sleep apnea.

“I'm sure y were trying to do right thing, but somehow planning went astray,” he said.

Massachusetts-based chain, which is offering special shopping time for seniors every day, said in a statement that it is asking its customers to consider staggering days y shop “to ensure a less crowded environment. as well as for everyone to exercise caution and social distancing while shopping.”

Ernest Hodge, 72, h a much smoor experience at a Dollar General store just rth of Richmond. Hodge showed up at 8 a.m. sharp Wednesday, wearing a face mask and blue rubber gloves to protect himself. He was able to shop among just a half-dozen or seniors and got most of what he needed, including disinfecting wipes, spray cleaner and bottled water.

Hodge said he was happy when he heard about special shopping hours because he is trying to limit his exposure to people.

“I get off work, I go home. I don't come out again unless it's a must,” he said.

Dollar General is reserving first hour of shopping every day for seniors at its more than 16,000 stores. Target has set aside an hour every Wednesday morning for vulnerable shoppers, including elderly and those with underlying medical conditions. Walmart said it will host an hourlong "senior shopping event" every Tuesday for customers 60 and older, one hour before stores open to general public.

In South Africa, supermarket chain Pick n Pay said this week that it will open all its markets an hour early every Wednesday for shoppers over 65. And Sainsbury's, one of largest supermarket chains in United Kingdom, reserved first hour of shopping in its stores Thursday for elderly and or vulnerable customers.

Jim Gibson, 72, from Crofton Park, souast London, went to his local superstore in Bell Green, where he said he h a “relatively trauma-free” experience except for fact that some younger shoppers appeared to igre request to reserve hour for senior citizens.

Most of products he was looking for were re, though many canned items were “leaping off shelves” and he couldn't get medicines that he and his 73-year-old wife want “for love or money.”

For most people, new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older ults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. vast majority of people recover.

outbreak has caused more than 10,000 deaths out of nearly 245,000 cases worldwide.

William Petri, a professor in University of Virginia's Division of Infectious Diseases and International Health, said setting aside dedicated times for seniors to shop makes sense.

Petri said health officials have found that many people who are infected don't have symptoms right away but are still infectious.

“That's an even better reason to try to isolate those who are most vulnerable, like elderly, from younger people through dedicated shopping hours,” Petri said.

Better yet, Petri said, would be for seniors to get groceries delivered to ir homes.