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Grocery Stores Taking Extra Precautions to Deal with the COVID-19 Coronavirus Spread

Plexiglass partitions like this one at the Food Lion in Blowing Rock will be going up at all Food Lion and Harris Teeter locations.

The next time you venture out to the grocery store, you will likely notice a little more space between you and the cashier. That’s because some local grocery stores are working to install sneeze guards to protect their workers. The transparent plexiglass partitions are designed to create more distance between cashiers and the multitude of customers coming through their lines these days.

Locally, Food Lion and Harris Teeter have already installed their new plexiglass partitions. 

The Salisbury, NC-based grocery chain Food Lion announced on Friday afternoon that all stores install plexiglass safety guards at customer checkout areas as a social distancing measure to protect store employees and customers from the spread of COVID-19 coronavirus. According to a press release from Food Lion, all stores should have the plexiglass in place this week. Stores in Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and Jefferson have already had theirs installed. 

Harris Teeter, based in Matthews, NC, has also begun installing the protective guards in its stores. The guards will be placed at cashier checkout, pharmacy and customer service stations.

Grocers say they are putting up Plexiglas shields in checkout lines to block virus-containing droplets from the nose and mouth from flying between clerks and customers.