2020-04-08
These are the precautions I’ll be taking.
Before I go shopping
- I’ll make a list. I’d prefer not to go to the shop more often than I need to. It is, after all, our responsibility to stay at home and keep the shopping queues short.
- I’ll go alone. No need to put anyone else at risk.
- I’ll try to shop in off-peak hours like first thing in the morning.
- I certainly won’t go out if I have any of the symptoms. I trust my fellow shoppers are equally considerate.
- I have several stores close to my home, and before the lockdown, I took note of the store that took the most care of their employees, keeping clean the areas around the checkout points. Now I only shop there.
At the Store
- Wear a mask.
- Sanitize your hands on entering and leaving the store.
- Don’t touch your face.
- Respect your fellow shoppers. Leave a two-metre distance between them and you. The same applies when you’re at the checkout.
- Don’t touch anything that you don’t plan to put into your basket and buy.
When you get home
- Wash your hands for the prescribed time.
- Rinse your fresh produce with water. Don’t use soap. It’s not good for you.
- Wash any reusable bags, or discard the plastic bags.
Most of the shops have been taking their own precautions since before the lockdown. They have wipes and sanitisers at the door. They have marked the floor so that people can easily see where the two-metre mark is. But we’re creatures of habit, and so from time to time I find that I have overstepped the mark.
I keep having to remind myself that these are extraordinary times that we live in. They require extraordinary measures.