AUSTIN, Texas -- Crowds and long lines leading into grocery stores across Texas are prompting some local leaders to ensure people are practicing social distancing to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
- Austin grocery store ordered to put social distancing protections in place
- Designed to protect customers and employees
- Numerous violations of mayor's order reported
Starting Saturday March 21, Austin Mayor Steve Adler is ordering grocery stores, pharmacies, and warehouse stores to establish controls to require six feet separation between shoppers lining up in front or inside. According to the order, “controls may include, but are not limited to requiring each person to take a shopping cart or placing markers on the floor.”
Furthermore, the order says retailers are encouraged to:
- Increase the use and capability of drive-thru, curbside, or delivery services
- Limit or restrict the number of customers permitted in a store at one time
- Minimize the number of employees working within six feet of one another
- Provide hand washing capabilities, hand sanitizers, and tissues
- Frequently clean high-touch surface areas like countertops, doorknobs, and handrails
“We can control how fast this hits us, and if we can even it out and spread it out, [then] our health care delivery system will be able to operate easily. If we can't, then we're going to be scrambling. We can control that and there's a lot of hope and knowing that we collectively have that ability. We each have to do our part,” Adler said in an interview with Spectrum News.
Adler said while he believes overall people in Austin are social distancing for the most part, he updated the order because he was hearing from some in the community that there needed to be a more of a push in retail stores.
“The order that we sent out (Saturday) talked about critical infrastructure that we want to keep maintained in our city. The ‘stay-in-place’ or ‘shelter-in-place rules in many cities and states contain those same kind of provisions. We're in a situation now that is not too dissimilar to those cities or states that have gone on to something they call different than what we have,” Adler said.
Many stores across the state have already taken measures to maintain social distancing among patrons. Christy Lara, the director of public relations at Randalls, told Spectrum News said they have closed their seating areas and are spreading tables apart in employee break rooms. She also said stores across the state will receive dozens of red decals to use as markers on the floors to separate people at checkout stands, pharmacies, and customer service. They are also installing plexiglass to safeguard their employees.
A protective shield in place at checkout inside an Austin, Texas, Randalls grocery store. (Courtesy: Christy Lara/Randalls)
“We're implementing this not just to protect our customers, but to protect our associates. They're critical workers right now, right? They're considered to be someone who is in one of those critical industries that's going to be working through all of this,” Lara said.
A spokesperson for H-E-B told Spectrum News the situation is evolving and the company is following CDC guidelines. The San Antonio-headquartered retailer is also placing floor decals in stores and encouraging shoppers to stay a cart apart from each other.
Customers are encouraged to remain six feet apart at an H-E-B grocery store in Austin, Texas. (Courtesy: H-E-B)
Officers with the City of Austin's Public Assembly Code Enforcement team are fielding 311 calls about retailers not complying with the order. A city spokesperson said they would first give a verbal warning to those who might be violating the order and will work with them to see how they can voluntarily comply, before issuing a citation.
Austin Public Health officials are also encouraging critical infrastructure employers to institute non-invasive temperature checks for staff before they enter work. If an employee has a temperature above 99.6° F, she or he should be sent home, according to APH.