Shoppers clears store shelves of hand sanitizers, bottled water
Cheryl Schweizer/Columbia Basin Herald A note on the door of Winco Foods in Moses Lake announces purchases of some items tied to the coronavirus outbreak will be limited.
Cheryl Schweizer/Columbia Basin Herald A lone bottle of hand sanitizer sits on the shelf at the Moses Lake Walmart Friday. Shelves were bare of hand sanitizers, among other supplies, and some stores have begun to limit purchases.
Cheryl Schweizer/Columbia Basin Herald Customers cleared the shelves of hand sanitizers at the Moses Lake Walmart.
Cheryl Schweizer/Columbia Basin Herald Customers cleared the shelves of hand sanitizers, among other products, at the Moses Lake Walmart.
Cheryl Schweizer/Columbia Basin Herald While not completely empty, the shelves in the toilet paper aisle of the Moses Lake Walmart were pretty bare Friday morning.
MOSES LAKE — One of the many side effects of the worldwide attention to COVID-19, also known as the novel coronavirus, was on display outside the Winco Foods store in Moses Lake on Sunday afternoon.
“Due to supplier restrictions, effective now until at least the end of April, Winco Foods will be placing a customer limit of four per family on the following items: Disinfecting wipes, hand sanitizer, hand soap, latex gloves, face masks,” the sign said.
Disinfectant and hand sanitizer were among the products in high demand late last week. A Friday morning check of the Moses Lake Walmart turned up two bottles of hand sanitizer and two bottles of hand soap remaining on the shelves. The sanitizer shelves were cleaned out at the Moses Lake Safeway as well, although there was some hand soap still available.
As of Friday morning hydrogen peroxide was another big seller. The hydrogen peroxide shelf was almost as empty as the hand sanitizer shelf.
Safeway was selling “significantly higher levels of bath tissue, case water, hand sanitizer and hand soap products,” said manager Ed Wilson. “Folks are preparing,” he said, in case travel is restricted.
Grant County has reported one case of COVID-19. A second person was tested for possible infection, but the test came back negative.
Grant County Health District issued a list of recommendations Friday designed to minimize the spread of the disease. As of now they are only recommendations and not requirements, a GCHD press release said.
Health district officials aren’t recommending closing schools or child care facilities. “Closure is not recommended now mainly because current evidence indicates young people have far lower risk of serious illness from this virus than other people,” the release said.
But one recommendation is that businesses think about letting people work from home if they can.
People who are at higher risk for COVID-19 should stay home, the press release said. Higher-risk groups include people 60 years of age and older, people with weakened immune systems, pregnant women and people with underlying health conditions, including respiratory illness, heart disease and diabetes.
Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at education@columbiabasinherald.com.
