Welcome to “A Virtual Q&A with Shoppers Drug Mart Pharmacists”! Join our pharmacists as they answer your questions on various health and medication topics.
What measures are taken in-store to keep customers and employees safe?
COVID-19 presents a challenge for us all, especially for the safety of our customers and our staff. This is particularly important, since much of our work involves interacting with a variety of customers face-to-face. Shoppers Drug Mart has implemented many strategies to help keep our customers and employees safe, and these revolve around maintaining physical distances or barriers, reducing foot traffic, and also regular store sanitation.
The first point of contact with our customers is usually at the cash registers and at prescription drop-off or pick-up counters. Here we’ve set up plexi glass screens to act as a physical barrier against the transmission of respiratory droplets when speaking, coughing or sneezing. These barriers are located in front of all areas where a 6-foot distance is difficult to maintain, such as at cash, prescription entry, and also at counselling areas.
We also encourage customers to pay with credit or debit cards instead of cash and to use our self checkout terminals to minimize person-to-person interaction. To help maintain social distancing guidelines, we’ve also limited the number of people in our stores and placed stickers on the floor to help guide customers where to stand, especially if there are more than one customer waiting in line.
We’ve also adjusted our store hours and provided early morning shopping for seniors and for healthcare workers, so they can obtain what they need easier and more conveniently.
For our staff we've also provided PPE, such as face masks and gloves, to keep them protected against COVID-19. Shoppers Drug Mart has also implemented a regular cleaning and disinfection schedule to ensure that the store is sanitized at all times.
We also wanted to make sure that it's easy for patients to receive their medications without coming into the store by offering to deliver prescriptions to them for free. This allows them to stay at home and to stay safe.
Ultimately, reducing the risk of transmission of COVID-19 for our customers and employees involves strategy that combines physical barriers, physical distancing and more convenience for those who need it.
The most important thing at this time is to be kind, to be calm and to be safe. Hope this helps, and stay healthy!
Whether you have questions about your prescription medications, over-the-counter products, immunizations, or other health concerns, our pharmacists are here to help. The information provided is for personal use, reference and education only and is not intended to be a substitute for a physician’s advice, diagnosis or treatment. Please consult your healthcare professional for specific information on personal health matters. This information included in this recording is correct as of June 5, 2020.