Aldi, Sainsbury's, Tesco and Waitrose rules on shopping as a family
The rules around shopping have been changed by Coronavirus
Briana MillettSenior Digital Content Editor
Ellis LaneSenior Digital Reporter
Tesco (Image: PA)
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Coronavirus has brought a raft of changes to supermarket rules, and the latest impact how people shop as a family.
Already we have seen policies changed to protects staff, change opening hours, and alter rules for online deliveries.
Now, many supermarkets are asking people to visit alone.
The rules are different depending on the store you are visiting, these are the up-to-date rules from each company, reports Bristol Live.
Aldi launched its "one person, one trolley" campaign earlier this week, asking people to shop alone "if possible".
Security guards are outside stores asking people to go in one at a time, with people who do not need to go inside asked to wait outside.
However the budget supermarket acknowledges some parents will have no choice but to take their children with them when doing the weekly food shop.
In a statement, Aldi said: "Where necessary parents can shop with their children, but like all supermarkets, we're asking people to shop alone if possible to support social distancing in our stores."
While Asda has not released a strict policy, it says it is limiting the total number of shoppers in to stores at one time.
According to Wales Online, a spokesperson said: "Everyone in the UK is being asked by the Government to shop sensibly and only when required. Where needed, we are limiting the total number of shoppers we allow into a store at any one time.
"If possible, it would help us greatly if you could bring fewer family members when visiting our stores. This will help us maintain social distancing guidelines we already have in place."
No specific restrictions. They say: "If necessary, we'll limit the number of customers in the store at any one time to maintain... distance."
Lidl has no specific restrictions on children and family.
They say: "We've put a crowd control system in place to help manage social distancing in our stores. This includes positioning security guards or designated team members at our store entrances to keep track of how many customers enter our stores at one time."
Morrisons has no specific restrictions.
From April 3, Sainsbury's staff began asking people who visit stores in pairs or groups to wait outside, while just one person completed the shopping.
The rule does not apply to children, with bosses saying they appreciate single parents often cannot easily leave their children at home.
A spokesperson said: "This helps us keep people a safe distance apart and also helps to reduce queues to get into stores.
"Our store teams will be asking groups with more than one adult to choose one adult to shop and will ask other adults to wait. Children are of course welcome if they are not able to stay at home."
Tesco is asking people to shop alone, saying: "Try to shop with no more than one other person. This will help to reduce the number of people in-store at any one time."
Waitrose was one of the first supermarkets to say couples and families should not shop together, way back in March.
A spokesperson said: "In line with the Government's guidance on social distancing we're asking customers to help us manage the number of people in our shops - by sending only one member of the household to do their shopping, if they possibly can.
"While this won't be possible for everybody, we are very grateful for our customers' support in this difficult situation."
The Co-operative