Forum Topic

Waitrose and M&S Stripped of Fresh Veg. Stalls on the High Road Amply Stocked

Can some one explain the logic of this to me? If I buy food at the supermarket I am in an enclosed space with scores of people and social distancing is impractical. If I buy at a stall there is a counter between me and the person serving me and no crowd.

Dan Evans ● 2419d7 Comments

The official line from the goverment. If people must leave their homes to purchase food, they should limit social contact with other people.

Julian Pavey ● 2419d

Shhh... don’t tell everyone

Vivienne Cox ● 2419d

well. the virus is NOT airborne. BUT it is transmitted by droplets etc. So social distancing ( distancing in a queue ) is important for not being coughed or spit on/at. You can protect yourself with protecting gears and with washing off ( ie wash your hands!!! etc). NOW because the virus is transmitted by droplets, people can spread it by touching goods. In my opinion, when you buy packaged fruits and veg (any goods ), you can carefully take off the packaging and throw away, ( not touching your fruits and veg, washing your hands after that ). However if you buy not packaged goods ( in a shop or at a stall ) you, don`t know who touched it before ( droplet transmission) and /or it is hard to wash off that potential droplet, because of the surface of the goods ( fruit, veg etc)Just my thoughts....

Cristina Bur ● 2419d

You dont use a trolley at stalls which means you cant be greedy and stack the trolley full of everything in sight.

Elizabeth Price ● 2419d

Everything I buy is thoroughly washed before being put away and I use disposable latex gloves to do this. I then wash my hands with soap and hot water. It's all about minimising risk of infection.

Loraine Pemberton ● 2419d

Absolutely correct and well stated.  It's all about common sense and thoughtfulness which a lot of people are choosing to ignore at the moment.

J. F. Bingham ● 2419d

While I thought Christina's point were interesting, everything I have read so far points to stalls being a much safer place to buy things  than supermarkets. Packaged goods may provide and extra level of protection but I would wash fresh produce anyway (the stalls are by a busy road after all) and I think, particularly now, most people would do the same. However, the sheer numbers of people in supermarkets and the confined space make social distancing impossible and the risk of infection must be many, many times higher than standing at a stall, At the time of writing they are not busy so there are no queues. Also you can walk the dog to the stalls, so one fewer time you need to go outside by combining the two tasks. In answer to the original question, there is simply no logic to shopping at any local supermarket at the moment for produce which is available at the stalls, in my view.

Andrew OSullivan ● 2419d