The Belgian supermarkets have jointly announced strict measures in an attempt to stop the spread of the new coronavirus. The number of customers that can shop at the same time is reduced, while the protection for store employees is upgraded.
Gloves and soap
Cashiers will be provided with gloves and soap, branch organisation Comeos said. Stores will be cleaned more thoroughly and more often, while payments in cash are banned. Moreover, the organisation insists that customers keep at least a one-metre distance with employees and between each other. Some stores are using tape or other kinds of signage in order to enforce these distances.
Moreover, stores will be strict in how many customers are allowed in at the same time: at most chains this is one customer per ten square metres – at Delhaize even one per fifteen square metres. The chains also urge people to do the shopping alone, and not with the family. They also repeat that people should not engage in panic buying, and refrain from coming to the stores unless they absolutely need to.
