To say most non-essential shops are safer than the supermarkets?

[Clawdy]

The little independent shops near me allow two or three people in at a time, with hand sanitizer at the entrance. Can't believe this is less safe than trawling round the big supermarkets. Yet they are all having to close on Thursday, and risk closing for good. So unfair.

I totally agree

Supermarkets probably are less safe purely down to volume of customers but I’m interested to know how you’d feed a family without supermarket access?

I’m fairly certain our household of 5 will manage the lockdown without visiting bars, restaurants, gift shops, swimming pools etc but I know we do not have the money, fridge/freezer room or storage space to stock up on a months worth of food/toilet roll which we would have to if the supermarkets closed.

I completely agree, I feel so sorry for business owners and those that work in retail and hospitality. I'm reasonably anti-lockdown in sentiment though as my mum who was an alcoholic relapsed in a major way during the first lockdown and died this Summer. So far I've not seen the evidence that lockdowns cause more good than harm when you look at public health as a whole (not just covid.)

Food is more essential than non food. I’m sure they would shut the supermarkets too if it wasn’t.

The clue is in the word 'non-essential'. Yes, we could shut down all the supermarkets and other essential shops, and just go to little independent craft boutiques instead but I think people might find that quite a lot harder to manage, even for a month.

Totally agree. I don't think shops should close, just maybe up precautions, less people entering etc...

We’re not locking specific stores down because they aren’t safe, we are locking down as much as we can to keep people home. The argument that schools and supermarkets aren’t safe are pointless.

Food is obviously an essential item and the vast majority of people in the U.K. buy their food from a supermarket hence them being more essential than, say, a small antique shop.

Not saying we don't need supermarkets, obviously food shops take priority , but why can't the small shops stay open too?

Because the government want people to stay at home

Not in NE London, my huge corner shop/supermarket doesn't enforce masks or distancing. Staff wear them,but at half mast. I'd say only 50% of people buying are wearing them. Same with all the chicken & chips shops all the schoolkids & shiftworkers use: staff wearing masks at half mast or not at all..

@Clawdy

Not saying we don't need supermarkets, obviously food shops take priority , but why can't the small shops stay open too?

Because the government wants as many people as possible to stay at home and not mix with people outside their household.

Supermarkets & other food shops are allowed to stay open because they are essential, not because of their level of risk.

Non-essential shops have to close because they are non-essential, not because of their level of risk.

Forgot, non food small shops have been same too. Only exception is Chemist which is like Fort Knox , with crates blocking the till.

As an independent non-essential retailer, I am so conflicted over this - I accept that keeping people out of circulation is part of the gameplan but also feel that if I could have people by appointment or something with all the safeguards - mask, sanitiser, social distancing etc it would be less risky than supermarkets as others have said. But I accept that incense and pretty Gothic trinkets aren't vital to survival......but the sale of them is - and yes, I can do online sales, but I'm a one woman band with limited tech skills and only so many hours in the day......

It's just sad and shit for everyone really all round. And our town has just cancelled its Christmas bar and market too. Meh. Just hope it all works without too much carnage outside of the virus itself.

but why can't the small shops stay open too?

Because we are in LOCKDOWN. We all need to stay at home as much as possible to minimise ALL contact. FFS. How hard is this to grasp? The reason food shops stay open is not because they are safer, but because if we don't get food that's a far bigger problem than Covid.

@bridgetreilly

but why can't the small shops stay open too?

Because we are in LOCKDOWN. We all need to stay at home as much as possible to minimise ALL contact. FFS. How hard is this to grasp? The reason food shops stay open is not because they are safer, but because if we don't get food that's a far bigger problem than Covid.

Well THIS exactly.

Things that are open are open because they are essential. Its not that the virus suddenly comes out when you are in a sweet shop compared to a butchers, or when its 4:30 on the kids way home from schools or when a kid turns 5

We need a way of accessing essentials, and people have campaigned for schools to open, and children to not be counted in numbers so single parents can mix. Its not because they are safer but because these are the things that are being prioritised

If we did it by what makes sense then it would be alot stricter, and clearly people dont want that

Any time you go somewhere else you take a certain amount of risk. You are rolling the dice to see if you get it. Each time you roll the dice you have a chance of that double six. So only roll the dice when you need to.

Or be like us in the states and do what every you want and get the results we have. 100K in one day, jesus wept.

The thing is, I'm finding, all these exceptions are almost anecdotal. Your little boutique is got it down to a tee, others maybe not so much.

All the 'where's the evidence this exact time of place causes an increase' ... the gym, golf, the harvester down the road. For the majority of places, no one place is like to be worse or better than the others, except down at an anecdotal level. (exceptions for things like nightclubs that are fundamentally at odds with social distancing and mask wearing). You can say your local tesco is has a higher chance than your little independent craft shop, but you cannot say every tesco is massively more high risk that every craft shop.

Also, while your craft shop might not do anything in itself to increase your risk, by staying open, you stay out longer, you come into contact with more people. Indirectly your independent has increased exposure by simply opening their doors.

It feels unfair that the big businesses that churn through hundreds of customers are allowed open... but let's not kid ourselves. We allowed this to happen a long time ago when we chose them over the greenegrocer, the fish monger, the butcher.

The safest places are those where nobody with an infection is. That can be anywhere. Reducing shopping time and ‘hobby’ shopping reduces risks.
Supermarkets probably are higher risk than some independents but being able to get everything essential in one place reduces overall footfall.
Nobody needs artisan cheese or handmade soaps. Nobody needs the lovely shop selling Irish pottery and Irish coats.
It’s not nice. It’s hard for small retailers but it is safer and more likely to reduce length of lockdown if people cooperate.