Major supermarkets are changing their opening hours to help cope with shoppers’ demand during the coronavirus outbreak.
Sainsbury’s announced that all its stores will only open to the elderly and the vulnerable for the first hour of trading on Thursday, but will open for an hour longer so other shoppers do not miss out.
And customers will also only be able to buy a maximum of three of any grocery product and a maximum of two on the most popular items such as toilet roll, soap and UHT milk from Wednesday, March 18 onward.
Tesco has had to bring in similar purchasing restrictions to curb panic buying, particularly on anti-bacterial wipes, dried pasta and toilet roll.
It announced it would be reducing the hours of all of its 24-hour stores to 6am to 10pm.
Tesco is also introducing a special shopping hour for NHS staff on Sundays from Sunday, March 22 onwards.
Those eligible will be able to browse an hour before traditional shop opening hours if they bring some NHS ID.
Asda has revealed it is closing its 24 hour stores between 12am and 6am on a temporary basis.
Asda will also be prioritising NHS workers in larger stores every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 8am to 9am.
Aldi will be open between 8am and 8pm from Monday to Saturday.
Sunday opening hours remain the same - 10am to 4pm
Lidl is opening an hour earlier than usual in order to let elderly customers do their shopping.
QD has announced it will be opening all its stores half an hour earlier, Monday to Saturday, between 8.30 and 9am. This slot will be dedicated to elderly customers and vulnerable people in the community, such as those with disabilities.
Iceland outlets across the country have also introduced reserved time slots to give the vulnerable and the elderly a chance to shop in stores, 9am - 11am each Wednesday.
Morrisons plans to introduce new ways of delivering groceries and more slots for customers, which are aimed at helping vulnerable people and those affected by the virus.
It has introduced an NHS hour at all of their stores every day, Monday to Saturday from 7am to 8am.
M&S has announced that it will give the first hour of every Tuesday and Friday morning to NHS and emergency service workers.
This list will be updated regularly.
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