ALDI Limits Number Of Customers In Stores Amid Coronavirus

NEW JERSEY — ALDI stores began significantly limiting the number of customers allowed in each store Thursday. The grocery chain instituted several changes because of the novel coronavirus.

Each store will only allow five customers per 1,000 square feet. ALDI will station staff outside the store to clean carts and keep track of customers as they enter and exit.

Associates will admit customers one at a time. Medical professionals with identification will get immediate access.

If lines form outside the store, ALDI asks that customers stand 6 feet away from each other.

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ALDI also designed temporary one-way aisles to manage the flow of traffic in each store.

Each location will also begin checking temperatures of all store and warehouse employees and have them participate in basic health screenings. Any employee with a fever of 100 or more will be sent home. He or she must be symptom-free for at least 72 hours before returning to work.

Even as stores take extra precautions, the coronavirus has left many grocery employees in vulnerable positions. Employees in at least 36 different ShopRite locations have tested positive for the virus, according to nj.com. A Trader Joe’s worker in New York, a greeter at a Giant store in Maryland, and two Walmart employees from the same Chicago-area store have died from COVID-19, the Washington Post reports.

Governor Phil Murphy ordered Wednesday that everyone must wear a face mask when grocery shopping or patronizing other essential businesses. Read more: NJ Shoppers Must Wear Masks: Where To Get Them, How It's Enforced

Murphy reported 275 more deaths from the virus Wednesday, as the daily number of new cases dipped to 3,088. State officials have reported 47,437 total cases and 1,504 deaths as of Wednesday.

Read more: NJ Coronavirus Updates: Here's What You Need To Know