Chinanews.com.cn, March 15th. During the outbreak of the new coronavirus, several large retail chains in the United States announced shorter business hours, giving employees more time to clean stores and replenish inventory.

On March 11, local time, a Costco supermarket in Oakland, San Francisco Bay Area, placed a drinking water rack, and posted a notice that each member had a limit of two. With the development of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, people in many parts of the United States have snapped up living supplies. Photo by Liu Guanguan of China News Agency

Supermarket chain Publix has more than 1,200 stores in Florida and the southern states. The company will close at 8 pm EST, two hours ahead of business hours, to give employees time to restock and disinfect shelves. Publix's pharmacy will also be closed at 8 pm EST until further notice.

Publix CEO Todd Jones said in a statement on the chain's website: "Publix will remain committed to maintaining the health of our employees, keeping our stores open and stocked, and providing it to all our communities. Service and support. "

Giant is headquartered in Pennsylvania and has nearly 200 stores in the Mid-Atlantic region. The company had previously announced that its 24-hour store would close at midnight and reopen at 6 a.m. EST the following day.

The company cited the same reasoning as Publix in a press release: "This decision is made as part of the company's response to the new crown virus pandemic and will allow store team members more time to arrive daily Sterilize shelves and restock. "

Locals are buying toilet paper in a large supermarket in Foster City, San Francisco Bay Area on February 28 local time. Photo by Liu Guanguan of China News Agency

Most of Giant's 24-hour stores are in Pennsylvania, with only one in Maryland. Pharmacies located in these stores will continue to operate normally.

"We are currently facing shortages and shortages of many household necessities, including disinfection and cleaning products. Our focus is to restore inventory as quickly as possible," Ashley Flowers, Giant's public relations manager, said in a statement. , "

Giant has no limit on the number of items each person can purchase. Each store regularly cleans shopping carts, shopping baskets, cashiers, etc.

Harris Teeter, a large supermarket chain in the southeastern United States, said on Twitter on the 14th that starting from the 15th night, they will close the stores at 9pm every night in order to focus on cleaning and replenishing goods, and Protect the health of employees.

Other grocery chains, including Kroger, Albertsons, Texas HEB, Trader Joe's, Walmart, Target, BJ's, and Whole Foods Foods), has not announced any changes to business hours. But they said on their website that given the current epidemic, they would do more cleaning.

Wal-Mart said on March 10 that it is "assessing whether to modify the opening hours of some 24-hour business locations for additional cleaning work."