By Sue-Ann Wayow
THE Supermarkets Association of Trinidad and Tobago (SATT) is once again advising its members to allow only one person per family to shop at its members’ stores.
In a public advisory issued to its over 300 members, SATT stated, “Please send only one member of your family to shop for your own safety.”
SATT’s President Rajiv Diptee told AZPNews.com on Saturday said the obvious reason was the daily increasing number of cases and deaths with almost 1,000 new cases being reported almost daily.
For the first 10 days in December, already 203 people have died from Covid-19 with the lowest daily death figure for this month being 16.
He said, “Stores have received it well and are themselves alarmed by the peak period of cases in this fourth wave scenario. We are trying to remind shoppers to prioritise the safety of themselves and their families during this Christmas.”
Diptee said the advisory was simply to enforce that the public health protocols need to be adhered to and the numbers and overcrowding especially at the cash registers needed to be managed.
He said SATT was understanding that the population was getting tired and may have Covid-19 exhaustion but citizens still needed to be responsible.
Supermarkets were reporting they were seeing a lot of children and elderly people in grocery stores and while grocery shopping could be personal, some stores were also offering curbside and online grocery shopping as an option, he said.
While stores may not want to turn away anyone from entering their premises, the population should use their discretion when venturing into stores, especially during the Christmas season, Diptee said.
