What horrified my wife at the grocery store a week ago was a salad and cold food buffet line where you could grab a serving spoon or tongs to pick up food and place it in a container you also picked out of a pile of other containers. The foods could be touched and you had to use a serving spoon touched by others. The fresh food was only protected by a sneeze guard.
This week when she went shopping, they had at least removed that food option and had some of the same items, but prepackaged in sealed containers.
There is a lot that can be done in grocery stores to reduce the spread of germs and virus.
Having disinfecting whips to clean the electronic keypad where club card or phone number is entered and where debit card pin can be entered would be an improvement, even in the self checkout stations.
One story I read recommended that when you go to the produce section to buy fruit or certain vegetables that you take a plastic bag and put your hand in it to pick up the fruit or veggies and then either turn the bag inside out or place the fruit into another bag you opened. If more people did that then the germ/virus transmission path would be reduced.
Similarly, the use of reusable bags should be banned as they are a contamination source unless you sanitize them after each use when you get home. Once use plastic or paper shopping bags are safer.
“The sneeze guard at the checkout counter is just common sense.”
It’s a placebo.
I went to Von’s yesterday. Threw 1 of my bags over a shopping cart handle of a basket in the parking lot and headed in. One of the Von’s workers comes after me yelling....wait you can’t have that basket! I haven’t disinfected it yet. I kept walking with it and told her don’t worry about it I never touch the basket. And pointed to my bag over the handle. She’s saying...but...but...but...I haven’t disinfected it yet! I just kept walking and assuring her I didn’t need her to disinfect it. lol