Coronavirus Panic Buying Puts Grocery Workers and Shoppers at Risk of Infection

[BeckyDem]

Braving grocery store crowds when you’re already stocked up puts you at risk of getting sick or infecting others, including elderly workers and others who have no choice but to be there.

by Alexandra Zayas March 16, 9:18 a.m. EDT

I grew up in Miami, where swarming the grocery store before a hurricane was a near-annual ritual. We packed our carts and waited in long lines, but there was certainty, at least in that very moment, that we were safe. The storm had not yet arrived. It was still on the TV screen, a disc spinning slowly in the ocean, behind a cone of uncertainty that meant we might not get hit at all.

Now, we’re shopping in the middle of a hurricane we cannot see. The incubation period for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, is two to 14 days. Experts have predicted some hospitals could start becoming overwhelmed by next week. This means a good number of those future patients are possibly infected right now, unaware, the virus incubating in their bodies and spreading.

It’s why governors across the country have closed bars and restaurants. But grocery stores remain open. So we’re maneuvering past one another in crowded aisles and fighting over frozen food. We’re waiting in snaking lines and exchanging money with tired cashiers, who say they have been working for six days straight and have never seen so many customers in their lives.

Some people can’t afford to buy the recommended two to three weeks of supplies at once, and they have no choice but to keep venturing out. But others are loading up on everything they need, then being tempted, by pictures of empty shelves, to run back to the store for more. Epidemiologists and doctors have been warning the public for days that braving crowds for any reason is a gamble; if a trip isn’t essential, they say, don’t risk getting yourself sick or infecting others, including store workers who have no choice but to be there.

https://www.propublica.org/article/coronavirus-grocery-shopping-risk-workers-shoppers-covid-19

[Hortensis]

1. Well, even if security hauled out any panickers, that'd still

still leave all those who've come to stock up -- as recommended by epidemic managers -- for the recommended sheltering in place. As well as the staff, of course.

I don't see a solution to 200 million people doing what they are supposed to to for 320 million except some management of flow of people and supplies where need is indicated. And temporary empty places on shelves is not an indication for massive interference instead of staying out of the way and letting the job mostly get done.

It's actually beyond foolish to claim stocking up is a problem in itself and demanding interference. Quite the contrary. Who's going to meet this vital need -- in short order -- for our nation if not its people? Epidemiologists know a huge tool to employ in population care is educating and encouraging the population to take care of themselves -- and letting them.

The problem of course is lack of the national leadership that would have educated most shoppers to "panic" in January and to take proper precautions while shopping, instead of leaving slow learners to be educated by rising death rates.

[ZenDem]

2. I was thinking about this last week.

I went to the grocery store (totally not expecting complete insanity) and watched the cashiers. I thought of every single thing they touched, food, money, credit cards and knew they were at high risk for infection. When I finally got to the register, I was as pleasant as possible, made them smile and just told them to be safe.

All of these people in these crappy low paying jobs putting their health at risk. They can't afford to take time off. Today, I watched as the garbage men picked up all the trash in my neighborhood. I worried about them, too. The mailman I saw delivering my mail yesterday...what about him?

I work at a desk. Company rules have strictly limited contact with the public and each other. My keyboard, desk, phone are not to be used by anyone else. I have the option to work from home. I'm also not high risk.

Humans are incredibly stupid, but I've seen so much kindness to go along with the madness. Somehow, I still have hope.

[BeckyDem]

5. +1

[Rorey]

3. This part of the article

“People are looking at the numbers in their communities and saying, ‘Oh, we only have one case,’” said the former health commissioner for the city of Baltimore, who also served as president of Planned Parenthood. “Those are only the cases we know of, but because of extremely limited testing capacity and because of the incubation period, there may be thousands of cases in our community. We just don’t know.”

This hit me. We have one confirmed case where I live. The guy didn't live in a bubble before he found out he was ill. A lot more cases will be showing up soon.

I did go to Walmart last night, probably stupidly. It wasn't very crowded at the time I went, and everyone was good at distancing from others.

Even if I didn't catch the virus , it was something I shouldn't have done. I would have bought some egg noodles if there were any because my daughter "stole" what I had to make stroganoff. There was no pasta at all. In fact, the entire grocery section was pretty much gutted, with the exception of "junk food" sections and the produce section. There was also plenty of coffee, and sugary cereals were still pretty stocked.

The biggest reason I shouldn't have gone was because of what the sight of all of those empty shelves did to me psychologically. I didn't get much sleep last night.

I just feel so bad for people who aren't going to be able to get essentials either because they're gone, or because they can't afford them.

[BeckyDem]

4. I completely understand, and feel similar. There are posted limits for many items now but

we need relief for these workers. The National Guard could help with distribution perhaps although that would eliminate individual choices of foods, but we need something to protect these workers and ultimately, all of us.

[Silver Gaia]

6. I'm ordering everything I can online for delivery.

And I'm wiping it all down with Clorix wipes before I bring it in.

I was already fairly well stocked before the madness, so it's mostly perishables I'm having to order now.

I have yet to be in one of those crowds and don't plan to be if I can help it.