Fears of the COVID-19 outbreak has seen the public panic buying and stockpiling, resulting in bare shelves as the UK goes into a state of panic.
Stockpiling is causing stress to the people of the city, more so the vulnerable, elderly and NHS staff who are turning up to supermarkets empty.
Measures are now being put into to place which includes special shopping hours for the vulnerable, elderly and NHS, so please buy only what you need at this current time to make sure we all don’t go home empty handed.
Supermarkets latest:
Sainsbury’s is following other supermarket chains and introducing a golden shopping hour for NHS and social care workers.
From next week, health and care staff will be able to shop at Sainsbury’s between 8am and 9am every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, alongside elderly and vulnerable shoppers.
As thousands of customers stockpiled on products in a panic-buying frenzy, many were left facing empty shelves at the supermarkets.
Tesco and Marks & Spencer have already announced they are giving health and social care workers priority shopping times.
Sainsbury’s is also consolidating its opening hours from 8am to 8pm, Monday to Saturday, in order to be able focus on restocking shelves.
Sunday opening, Sainsbury’s Local and petrol station opening times will stay the same.
“Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, all our supermarkets will dedicate 8am to 9am to serving elderly, disabled and vulnerable customers, as well as NHS and social care workers,” chief executive Mike Coupe said.
“They will just need to show us their pass or ID when they visit.”
Changes to opening hours
Tesco
A number of stores are now operating at reduced hours due to “operational reasons”, Tesco said on Twitter after photos showed shelves cleared of food and other essential goods.
Some Tesco Extra stores and larger Metro stores have reduced their hours to between 6am and 10pm so they can properly restock overnight.
Check your Tesco shop here
Asda
Asda has revealed it is temporarily closing its 24 hour stores between 12am and 6am.
To check opening hours for your local store, visit www.storelocator.asda.com.
Sainsbury’s
Sainsbury’s stores are typically open from 7am – 10pm from Monday to Saturday.
Stores open from 10am to 4pm on Sundays.
To find the opening hours for your local store, visit www.stores.sainsburys.co.uk
Morrisons
Opening hours vary across the country. To find the opening hours for your local Morrisons store, visit www.groceries.morrisons.com.
Aldi
Aldi’s current opening hours are listed as 8am to 9pm from Monday to Saturday, and 11am to 5pm on Sundays.
To check your local store, visit www.aldi.co.uk.
Iceland
Iceland will open its supermarkets early for elderly customers to visit before stores open to the public.
Each day, elderly shoppers can visit between 8am – 9am to get their shopping first.
To check opening times at your local store, visit www.iceland.co.uk.
