- Retailers around the world are changing their opening hours to allow elderly people and others most at risk of contracting severe cases of COVID-19 to shop more comfortably.
- Several major US chains, including Walmart, Target, Whole Foods, and Stop & Shop have dedicated special opening hours to those shoppers.
- Scroll down to see a list of stores who are extending their hours to accommodate them.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Major retailers around the world are changing their opening hours in order to allow elderly people who are most at risk of contracting deadly cases of COVID-19 - the disease caused by the new coronavirus - to shop more comfortably.
The disease has already spread to more than 218,000 people, and across 145 countries. As of Thursday morning, the US has reported more than 9,400 cases and more than 150 deaths.
The virus has affected older people with preexisting health problems most seriously, according to a recent study from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The data also suggests that the risk of dying from the disease increases with age.
Meanwhile, stores have reported empty shelves and long lines as people move to stockpile essentials, including toilet paper. Several retailers have placed purchasing limits on essential goods like hand sanitizer, diapers, rice, pasta, and eggs.
All this has left some seniors afraid to buy groceries. Several volunteer groups, including Meals on Wheels, have started stepping up efforts to deliver groceries to the elderly.
Several major chains have also stepped up their policies to ensure seniors can continue to buy groceries, with less fear of disease transmission, by thoroughly disinfecting their stores and devoting new opening hours to them.
Several New York officials have called on the state to implement these hours as policy.
"I hope the scattered shopping hours would lead to seniors being in a store with less people," Bettina Fries, chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Stony Brook Medicine, told The Washington Post.
Here are the stores that have dedicated special opening hours to elderly shoppers: