The Salisbury, NC-based grocery chain Food Lion announced Friday afternoon that it will install plexiglass safety guards at customer checkout areas as a social distancing measure to protect store employees and customers from the spread of COVID-19 coronavirus.

Installation of the protective plexiglass has already begun, according to the news release, and will be completed within the next week.

Harris Teeter, based in Matthews, NC, has also begun installing the protective guards in its stores. The guards will be placed at cashier checkout, pharmacy and customer service stations.

The shields will also be installed in Publix grocery stores, according to the Charleston Post & Courier, and in Walmart stores, reports USA Today.

Food Lion removes hand baskets, introduces senior hours

Food Lion also noted in its Friday news release that it is removing hand baskets and small shopping carts from stores and asking shoppers to use large carts to increase distance from other shoppers, noting that two cart lengths is approximately the 6-foot space recommended by the CDC.

Food Lion, which has the largest grocery market share in the Triangle after Walmart, is also the latest local chain to offer designated shopping hours for seniors.

Those age 60 and over and customers who are immunocompromised can shop 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays, starting Monday, March 30. Food Lion doesn’t indicate that it will close the store to other shoppers during that time, but asks “that everyone please respect these designated shopping windows for their neighbors.”

Other stores in the area offering special shopping hours for seniors.

So far, Food Lion is one of the only grocery chains not to make corporate-wide reductions in store hours in response to coronavirus.

This story was originally published March 27, 2020 at 6:26 PM.