Exercise some common sense to help protect Wichita’s grocery store, big-box workers

Doctors and nurses aren’t the only front-line heroes in our fight against COVID-19.

Take a trip to the nearest grocery or big-box store and you’ll see people stocking shelves, ringing up customers and bagging products — exposing themselves to a steady stream of shoppers and co-workers with varying degrees of protection.

We must do more to keep them safe.

The union representing food and commercial workers sent a letter to Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly this week urging swift action — including a face-mask mandate — to better protect shoppers and front-line food workers during the coronavirus pandemic.

Local Union 2 of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union asked Kelly to cap grocery store capacities between 20% and 30% and mandate everyone to wear masks or facial coverings inside essential stores and food production plants.

“We understand this may seem drastic, but the threat posed by this pandemic is too dangerous not to do it,” said UFCW Local 2 president Martin Rosas in a news release Monday.

“Mandating everyone to wear masks or facial coverings inside essential stores . . . is critical to keeping people safe. The front-line workers in these places are already facing an outsized risk of exposure because their jobs force them into frequent contact with others.”

This week, major supermarket chains began to report their first coronavirus-related employee deaths, and anxiety among grocery workers understandably is high.

Local officials in some pandemic hot spots, including New York, Los Angeles and Miami, have ordered all residents to wear cloth face coverings when visiting grocery stores, pharmacies and other essential businesses.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that people wear cloth face coverings in certain public settings where social distancing measures are difficult to maintain and where there is “significant community-based transmission” of the coronavirus.

That means grocery stores, and that means Wichita.

A mask mandate would be tricky in Kansas — or even just in Sedgwick County — right now because supplies are limited. (Note, however, that simple cloth masks can be made at home. One no-sew method requires only a handkerchief and hair ties.)

In the meantime, there are measures stores, customers and local officials can take to further protect grocery workers amid the growing pandemic.

Dillons announced last week that it would keep its store capacity at 50 percent of the international building code’s capacity — 1 person per 120 square feet — to allow for proper physical distancing. The company also is encouraging, though not requiring, that all employees wear protective masks and gloves.

Several stores have installed plexiglass sneeze guards at cash registers and spacing guides in checkout lines. Some are waiving delivery fees for prescriptions or other necessities. Many have established special shopping hours for senior citizens.

State and local officials should continue to remind residents to stay home except for the most essential functions, and to clarify what’s truly essential.

When it comes to grocery shopping, there are common-sense things we can do: We should shop alone instead of with the whole family. We should wear face coverings if possible, stay at least 6 feet away from other people, and not touch anything we don’t plan to buy.

And we should thank grocery store workers for being there.

This story was originally published April 15, 2020 at 5:45 AM.