TORONTO — As provinces begin to allow certain businesses to reopen in accordance with public health guidelines, consumers may encounter a very different shopping experience from what they were used to before the spread of coronavirus, reported CTV News.
Across the country, retailers have begun preparing for the green light from their respective provincial governments to welcome customers back, albeit with a number of required new safety protocols.
While some consumers are eagerly anticipating the reopening of their favourite stores, others have expressed concerns about their safety when they venture out shopping again.
For those shoppers, CTVNews.ca has rounded up some of the safety precautions retailers across Canada are implementing in order to protect their customers and employees when operations resume.
RESTRICTED ENTRANCES
In order to keep track of customers entering the premises, many retailers have said they will only allow them to come in through dedicated entrances. The number of entrances will depend on the size of the store and their staffing capabilities to monitor people as they come inside.
Across Quebec, except in Montreal, the provincial government has only allowed retailers with exterior or outside entrances to reopen to the public. That means businesses with indoor entrances in malls, for example, will not be able to reopen just yet.
DECREASED CAPACITY
Many Canadian shoppers have already experienced long lineups outside grocery stores, liquor stores, and pharmacies as those businesses try to limit the number of people shopping inside at once. That policy is not expected to go away anytime soon and other retailers will be expected to follow suit if they want to reopen in the coming weeks.
In Saskatchewan, for example, shopping malls and retail stores are set to reopen on May 19. To be allowed to do so, businesses must post signs indicating the maximum number of shoppers and employees allowed in the store at one time and monitor the flow of traffic to ensure the rules are being followed.
In Manitoba, where businesses have already started reopening, restaurants have been allowed to open only their patios and with 50 per cent of their typical capacity.
TEMPERATURE CHECKS
Before customers will even be allowed to enter certain stores, they may be required to undergo a temperature check to ensure they don’t have a fever, one of the symptoms of COVID-19.
Some grocery stores have already implemented this policy, such as the Asian-foods grocer T&T, which began conducting temperature checks using a non-invasive infrared thermometer in mid-April.
The grocery chain Longo’s has also employed this strategy at a number of its locations as part of its “wellness screening protocols.” Security guards will check arriving customers’ temperatures using an infrared thermometer and ask them a series of questions to determine their health condition before they enter.
A Vancouver liquor store has taken temperature checks one step further by installing thermal cameras at its entrance. The cameras at the Value on Liquor Store scan employees and potential customers’ body temperatures as they enter the store.
If someone has a temperature reading of 37.5 C or higher, the camera will send out an audible alert and staff will ask that person to leave.
SANITIZATION
One of the simplest safety measures for retailers to implement is providing hand sanitizer for employees and customers.
In several provinces, retailers have been instructed to set up hand-washing stations or have alcohol-based hand sanitizers readily available for anyone entering the store.
In Saskatchewan, that means these stations or hand sanitizers should be placed near doors, pay stations, change rooms, and any other high-traffic areas. Retailers in the province have also been advised to have wipes and trash bins available near the entrance so customers can wipe down shopping carts and handles.
The Ontario government, too, has ordered retailers to have hand sanitizer at every entry and to have a safe place for customers to discard sanitizing wipes and face masks. Customer-facing employees, such as delivery persons or cashiers, should also be provided with their own hand sanitizer for their individual use.
