Note: This story was last updated at 7:30 a.m. March 16.
The Kroger and Walmart stores in Oak Ridge are limiting their hours. It’s part of a trend of stores changing their hours across the country as people concerned about COVID-19 flock to stock up on supplies.
The stores said the limited hours will help them clean and stock shelves.
Normally open 24 hours, the Kroger store in Oak Ridge will be closed from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. “until further notice.”
The Walmart store, which is also normally open 24 hours, said it will be open from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. each day starting Sunday, March 15.
As concerns about COVID-19 spread across the country, people have been flocking to grocery stores, loading grocery carts with supplies. Among the items that appear to be in high demand include beef and bread, flour and pasta, rice and beans, sauces and ramen, canned fruits and frozen vegetables, sodas and water, cleaning supplies and wipes, and toilet paper and paper towels.
That’s sometimes left empty shelves for other shoppers. Sometimes those items are restocked, but sometimes the shelves quickly empty again.
Some stores have started limiting purchases of certain supplies. The Kroger store in Oak Ridge now limits meat and seafood purchases to three of each item per household. There is also a three-item limit on some other products that are in high demand, including water, cold and flu products, liquid and bar soap, vitamins, hand sanitizers, household cleaning products, bleach, bath tissue, paper towels, facial tissue, gloves, rubbing alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, thermometers, first aid supplies, analgesics, feminine hygiene, adult incontinence, baby diapers, wipes, and formula products.
On visits to local grocery stores Sunday night, some items remained low or sold out, including beef, bread, and toilet paper. But other items in high demand, such as eggs, were available at both Kroger and Food City on Saturday and Sunday evenings, and Kroger had a limited supply of toilet paper on Saturday evening. Oak Ridge Today has noticed that items sold out at one store are sometimes available at another, and availability can vary with the time of day.
USA Today reported that stores across the nation are trimming hours to focus on cleaning and to restock store shelves, and some stores such as Urban Outfitters are closing for now. Health officials are advising people to regularly clean items touched by people to help control the spread of the virus. Store workers have reported customers wanting to buy items like toilet paper directly off the pallet when crews are restocking shelves.
COVID-19 is a respiratory illness caused by the new coronavirus. The first case was diagnosed in China in December. Now a pandemic, the virus has spread across the world, infecting more than 150,000 people and killing more than 5,000. It’s led to lockdowns and widespread closures and quarantines. More than 70,000 patients are reported to have recovered from COVID-19.
In the United States, there are about 2,900 cases in 49 states and more than 50 deaths.
There were 32 cases in Tennessee as of Saturday, including one each in Campbell and Knox counties.
States of emergency have been declared in the United States and Tennessee.
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