Cornavirus: Supermarket restrictions in place at Tesco, Morrisons, Asda, Sainsbury's, Waitrose, Lidl, Aldi and Co-op
SUPERMARKETS have started to reintroduce restrictions to prevent panic buying.
At the start of the coronavirus pandemic in the first half of the year, people rushed out to stock up on goods such as toilet roll.
It resulted in scenes of empty shelves at supermarkets across Portsmouth and the country.
Following this supermarkets introduced restrictions to prevent people from overbuying goods as we went into lockdown.
As government rules eased over the summer, the limits on products were also lifted.
However as fresh coronavirus restrictions have been put in place by Boris Johnson this week, supermarkets have started to reintroduce limits and restrictions.
We have rounded up all the latest rules and restrictions at supermarkets across the Portsmouth area – we will continue to update the list.
Here is all you need to know:
Face masks
In the announcement on Tuesday, September 22, the Prime Minister announced that supermarket staff now have to wear face masks inside stores, which previously had not been mandated.
Shoppers are still required by law to wear face masks when they go into shops in the UK – with a few exemptions.
Tesco has introduced product limits at its stores as of September 25.
Shoppers will be restricted to a three items per person on goods including toilet roll, flour, dried pasta, anti-bacterial wipes and baby wipes.
A Tesco spokesperson told the Metro: ‘We have good availability, with plenty of stock to go round, and we would encourage our customers to shop as normal. To ensure that everyone can keep buying what they need, we have introduced bulk-buy limits on a small number of products.
‘To help our customers shop safely, we will also have colleagues at the entrances of our larger stores to remind customers about the safety measures we have in place, including the legal requirement to wear a face covering.’
Morrisons announced it was introducing restrictions on certain items on September 24.
Customers will be limited to three products per person on goods like toilet rolls and disinfectant products.
Morrisons also said it has reinstated wardens to store entrances to ensure rules are enforced.
Asda
Asda has said it will introduce 1,000 new Covid-19 marshals on the doors of its supermarkets across the country to ensure customers wear masks properly.
It has not yet reintroduced any product limits.
Sainsbury’s
Sainsbury’s have not introduced any new product limits as of September 25.
Customers are asked to follow official guidelines for your local area and wear a face covering when shopping in store.
Waitrose have not reintroduced products limits as of September 25.
The stores also have dedicated marshals per store to help manage queues, reminding customers of the two-metre social distancing rule.
On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays the first opening hour in Waitrose stores will be dedicated to our elderly and vulnerable shoppers.
Lidl do not have new product restrictions in place as of September 25.
It has put a crowd control system in place to help manage social distancing in stores. This includes positioning security guards or designated team members at the entrances during busy times of the day, to keep track of how many customers enter our stores at one time.
Aldi has not introduction product restrictions as of September 25.
It is required that you wear a face mask when in Aldi stores.
Co-op
Co-op have not reintroduced products limits as of September 25.
The stores have a traffic light system to let customers know when it is safe to come inside – to limit the number of shoppers allowed inside at one time.
We will continue to update this list in the coming days and weeks.