COLORADO SPRINGS — What safety measures are being taken by workers at your local grocery store?
Some people shopping at Safeway and King Soopers in Colorado Springs say they're seeing workers wear gloves and masks while others say they're not, and for the latter, it's a big concern for themselves and employees.
"I wish they were wearing masks. I wish that there were enough masks going around so that they could actually wear them."
That's how Safeway shopper Suzanne Yim feels when it comes to protecting grocery store workers from the coronavirus. She said, "I worry most about the employees actually in grocery stores right now...they're not protected, they're just not, and they're working every day so that we can have food so I think it's kind of important for them to actually get protective gear."
While Colorado is now asking everyone to wear masks when leaving their home that's not the case for gloves. It's a concern for Rene Sintas. When she's gone to Safeway she's "looked around - no one's wearing gloves - and then we were in the produce department even and the guy who was putting the apples out and unloading produce he wasn't even wearing gloves...definitely in the produce department somebody needs to be wearing gloves touching the food."
News 5 reached out to El Paso County Public Health for their input on this. Medical Director Robin Johnson said, "If you're wearing gloves and you're touching surfaces that have any virus on it and then you touch your face you've defeated the purpose of the gloves...it's much more effective to keep those surfaces clean and keep our hands washed, and really not be touching our face."
We did reach out to Safeway and King Soopers. Both stores say employees are allowed to wear masks and gloves if they choose to do so and they are working to get supplies for workers.
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