As the country’s hospitals buckle under the pressure of a relentless third wave of the novel coronavirus pandemic, checks across the island have revealed a worrying disregard, in many business places, for the safety protocols being relied upon to help save lives.

Supermarkets and stores, once rigorous in doing temperature checks and cleaning surfaces after each customer’s use, appear to be experiencing safety protocol fatigue. Some blame the lax behaviour on broken equipment, overworked staff, and the mad rush of shopping ahead of three days of lockdown which begin today. This is what our news team found across the parishes.

Westmoreland

REPORTING BY KIMBERLEY PEDDIE

Based on results of samples sent off for testing by the health and wellness ministry, Westmoreland is one of the parishes with particularly high cases of the highly contagious Delta variant of the virus. On Friday there was little in residents’ behaviour to offer any reassurance that better days may be ahead.

There were no temperature checks being done at a store in Beckford Plaza. The manager on duty, who did not provide her name, said she was not authorised to comment on the issue on the company’s behalf. In expressing her personal view, however, she said she is yet to encounter a customer with a higher than acceptable temperature and the health and wellness ministry has not mandated that temperature checks be done.

The directive from the Government, she said, was an emphasis on sanitising, social distancing, wearing of masks, and vaccination. Shopping carts were being sanitised after each use and there was a strict ‘no mask, no entry’ policy.

St Ann

REPORTING BY AKERA DAVIS

Sheepish business operators in Ocho Rios promised to do better on Friday after lapses in their safety protocols were pointed out to them.

“We usually have some guys assigned to trolleys and as they move back empty trolleys they spray them down. But today the place is busy so everybody is all over the place trying to assist customers, due to the rush, and get them going as fast as possible,” said Shanique Howell, supervisor at the popular Champion Supermarket.

“Every cashier counter also has a spray bottle with sanitiser and after each customer they are supposed to wipe the counters. But it seems like the rush have everybody moving fast and not actually focusing,” Howell added.

There were temperature checks and hand sanitisation being done at the door but little to no social distancing as masked shoppers crammed together, ignoring the markers on the floor.

“They are slacking [off], and most of the places I go to are not sanitising after you go inside the store – like the carts and so on. That is not right because people go in and touch up stuff and that is spreading the virus,” one obviously annoyed customer told the Jamaica Observer.

At Chinatown Superette, the manager, who opted not to be named, told the Sunday Observer that they have tried to enforce the protocols but customers often resist.

“Most time people refuse to sanitise and want to fight, saying they are not nasty and they cleaned their hand before coming to the shop. So sometime mi just leave them because is like I can’t explain to them,” she said.

There was a refreshing difference at General Foods Supermarket where customers patiently stood in lines and observed social distancing requirements, had their hands sanitised and temperatures checked before being allowed inside to use shopping carts that were cleaned after each use. Cashiers also made a valiant effort to clean their stations after each transaction.

St James

REPORTING BY CHARMAINE CLARKE & ROCHELLE CLAYTON

Long before the rush of shoppers stocking up on goods ahead of the lockdown, some business places in Montego Bay had already noticeably relaxed observing the safety protocols. Yesterday, as the shopping frenzy intensified, things only got worse.

About a week ago, at one supermarket, cashiers appeared to have given up on even pretending to sanitise counters after each customer. After a member of the news team insisted that the area be cleaned, one cashier reluctantly performed the task. She had a spray bottle at her station but had to walk a few steps to get the fresh paper towels needed to apply the fine mist that sputtered from the bottle.

At the entrance, though, a security guard was vigilant in ensuring that temperatures were checked, hands sanitised, and those entering wore masks. Shopping carts also appeared to be sanitised with some regularity.

At two other supermarkets, located closer towards the congested centre of the city, it was a free for all on Friday evening. When our news team visited we did not see customers’ hands being sanitised; some were allowed to enter without masks and there was no social distancing.

The security guards at both supermarkets were seen wearing masks but they did not insist that shoppers do the same. While the cashiers were seen wearing masks, some had the protective garment under their noses.

Portland

REPORTING BY EVERARD OWEN

As in most parishes across the island, some safety protocols were being ignored in Portland. Bill Express at Boundbrook and Bashco at Bayshore Plaza stood out as they were the only locations, among those visited, which showed any rigour in applying all the measures.

Temperatures are checked before entry and those who are over the acceptable levels are asked to wait outside until their temperatures go down. Hands must be sanitised before entry and masks are required.

At Fresco Supermarket, many of the other measures had been relaxed but patrons were made to sanitise their hands on entering.

Ramtulla’s Supermarket has apparently abandoned temperature checks, but is still rigorous in sanitising customers’ hands.

In many places there was a noticeable lack of sanitising of cashier counters and shopping trolleys after use.

Hanover

REPORTING BY ANTHONY LEWIS

The lapses in safety protocols in Hanover have not escaped the notice of the parish’s medical officer of health Dr Kaushal Singh. He has promised tough action.

“We are aware of it and I have asked our public health inspectors to inspect all the supermarkets and make sure that they follow the standard practice,” he told the Sunday Observer when contacted on Friday. Those that fail to improve after being warned, he said, would have their doors shuttered.

Up to late Friday afternoon, customers were seen entering some supermarkets in Lucea and Hopewell without sanitising their hands. Some were allowed to shop even though they were not wearing masks.

Trelawny

REPORTING BY HORACE HINES

While masks were required for entry at most of the business places visited in Trelawny on Friday, there were numerous examples of blatant disregard for many of the other safety protocols.

Few places did temperature checks when members of our news team visited as regular shoppers. At one supermarket, where neither temperature checks nor hand sanitiser were being offered, the proprietor explained that the sanitiser was with the cashier but temperature scans were not being done. At his behest, one of the two female cashiers retrieved, from under the counter, a large, white plastic bottle half full of sanitiser, and the reporter posing as a customer was able to sanitise his hands.

At another supermarket, customers freely streamed into the jam-packed space. The security guard tasked with doing temperature checks and sanitising of hands was busy sorting a huge pile of customers’ bags stacked in a corner near the main entrance.

At another nearby business place, customers’ hands were being sanitised but management said the thermometer had been recently damaged.

During the early afternoon at one business establishment packed with customers, the security guard claimed that, for the second time that day the hand sanitiser was all used up.

“It finish and them gone get some more, but me don’t see them come back with none yet,” he explained.

There were, however, some places where patrons could only gain entry after having their hands sanitised and their temperature checked.

Clarendon and St Catherine

REPORTING BY NIKEL INNERARITY

Across the parishes of St Catherine and Clarendon some places of business made an effort to follow at least some of the rules, but numerous lapses were observed between Friday evening and Saturday morning.

One manager, who asked not to be identified by name, blamed it on “fatigue and difficulty in carrying out these processes all the time”. Most places visited provided an opportunity for customers’ hands to be sanitised; however, in some cases the individual responsible for dispensing the solution was preoccupied with other tasks.

At one business place, the security guard assigned that task was asleep. None of the establishments visited were seen sanitising frequently touched surfaces or enforcing social distancing among shoppers. The level of compliance appeared worse in less-established businesses, which seem to be hampered by a lack of resources.

At several of these places customers were able to walk in without having hands sanitised or temperatures checked. There was also little effort made to maintain social distancing among customers inside.

In some places shopping carts were not being sanitised after each use. At one business establishment in Old Harbour, St Catherine, one worker advised that customers needed “to ask the security to sanitise them whenever they go inside”. There was no one inside performing that role, however, and no one manning the temperature check machine.