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COVID-19: Yk Co-op asks customers to free up shopping time for seniors

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1820storeshelves45.jpg Simon Whitehouse/NNSL photo Justin Nelson, general manager of Yellowknife Direct Co-op stands beside an empty shelf at the store on Saturday afternoon. He said he began the day around 10 a.m. filling the shelf with six large pellets of toilet rolls. Within hours those rolls were bought up.

With supplies like toilet paper and hand sanitizer flying off shelves in the city amid growing COVID-19 fears, the Yellowknife Co-op is asking customers to free up shopping time for more at-risk residents.

Customers are asked to reserve the first hour of each day for seniors — one of the demographics most vulnerable to the virus, which continues to spread globally and throughout Canada.

"If you are a non-senior and your purchase is not an emergency please refrain from entering the store until 9 a.m.,” reads a post on the Old Airport Road store’s Facebook page.

“This will allow our local seniors an opportunity to pick up the items they require with less crowd contact.”

There were no confirmed cases COVID-19 in the NWT as of Tuesday morning, but mounting concerns about the potentially overwhelming impact of an outbreak on Canada’s healthcare system have prompted increased calls from top health officials to practice social distancing, and to stay home if unwell.