Sneeze guards, temp checks are new normal for US retail

Bloomberg

Each day, before the 350 employees at Fresh N’ Lean enter the company’s food preparation center in Anaheim, California, they fill out a health questionnaire and have their temperature taken.
Anyone with symptoms, even if they seem like seasonal allergies, is asked to take paid emergency sick leave. Inside, workers are spaced widely apart and wear gloves and masks as they prepare food for delivery. Last week, employees received a $1 an hour raise just for coming in, since demand for mail-order meals has surged with so many people staying home.
“I take the fact that we’re an essential business very, very seriously, because people not only need to eat, but they need a good source of food,” said Fresh N’ Lean Chief Executive Officer Laureen Asseo, who added that she comes in every day to show support for her workers. “My number one goal is how do we stay safe, and how do we continue to prepare safe food for people.”
By all accounts, Fresh N’ Lean—and other companies considered essential to the US economy such as Walmart, Home Depot, Lowe’s and Kroger—are creating a standard for operating during a pandemic. For retail locations, that includes wider or one-way aisles (or both) to keep shoppers farther apart, touchless payments and Plexiglas shields (and sometimes masks and gloves) for cashiers. Store hours are being reduced, and the number of customers allowed in at any one time is limited.
All the while, store surfaces are cleaned, and cleaned, and cleaned again.