Heather Curtis
MARYLAND (WMAL) – D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser signed an order Wednesday that she said is designed to protect frontline grocery workers and the food supply chain during the pandemic.
The new measures have been put into places as the number of COVID-19 cases in the District spikes. The number of people who tested positive in the District Wednesday rose to 1,523, up 83 from Tuesday. Five more people died Wednesday, brining the city’s death toll to 32. While people around the country are being told to limit grocery store trips, stores remain crowded, and social distancing isn’t easy to do.
“We cannot allow grocery stores to become vectors for disease,” Mark Federici, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 400, wrote in a statement.
Starting Thursday shoppers will need to wear masks. Grocery stores will mark 6 feet increments for people standing in checkout lines and limit the number of customers who can be inside at a time. Bowser did not set any specific limits because she said grocery stores are different sizes. Aisles will be one way if possible. Customers will bag their own groceries. People are encouraged to make as few trips as possible and get in and out quickly.
Grocery stores must also check workers for possible COVID-19 symptoms before their shifts start. Bowser said they will ask people if they are sick but did not say the stores are required to take people’s temperatures like some other businesses do. Stores will be required to install plexiglass or plastic dividers between customers and employees at registers if the register serves more than 50 people per day. Stores will also need to provide hand sanitizer and wipes. Bowser said if they don’t do that they will be out of compliance with the order but did not say whether stores that couldn’t get these items – which are difficult to impossible to find in stores or online these days – would be forced to close.
While customers are required to wear masks, the order does not say workers are also subject to that requirement.
Under the section of the order about what employers must do, it says: “If feasible, provide all employees who may come into close contact with others with gloves and cloth or surgical masks and instruct employees on safe use. All gloves and masks shall be procured by businesses.”
Bowser said stores are working on getting PPEs for employees.
UFCW Local 4000 said in a statement Wednesday the order is a good first step but continues to push for grocery store workers to be designated as first responders so they can access free testing.
“Our grocery workers in Washington, D.C. can certainly call our hotline and be tested at United Medical Center, and we don’t see any reason why that shouldn’t work,” Bowser said at a press conference Thursday.
UFCW Local 400 is also calling for a limit of no more than 10 customers at a time per 10,000 square feet of space with a cap at 50.
Fish and farmer’s markets are also required to make changes. They will need to submit plans on how they can operate safely because they can be issued a waiver that allows them to open. This comes after the fish market at the Wharf was forced to close last weekend because people there weren’t observing social distancing. Bowser said the city has been working with them all week.
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