The Twitter storm around coronavirus shows no sign of easing and amid the hysteria and paralysis there have been the occasional interesting suggestions.
One was: “A guy on Twitter has a brilliant idea asking supermarkets and dedicate the first hour of opening to the elderly. Start the day with newly sanitised trolley handles, doors, tills, fully stocked, no panic etc”.
The plan was quickly extended to include disabled shoppers and responses included the revelation that stores in some European countries have already adopted the measures, notably Denmark and France.
One member of the Twitterati welcomed the move as a good idea which would enable vulnerable people to shop more safely and reduce “selfish binge-buying by others”.
Another tweeter suggested the supermarkets could temporarily reduce their delivery charges, making it more affordable for elderly and disabled people to order online – especially those who live alone and only make modest purchases.
Yet another suggested that people make an effort to identify their elderly and vulnerable neighbours and offer to go shopping for them.
However one correspondent said she could only imagine the look on her mother-in-law’s face at the suggestion of getting up to go shopping at 7am! Another made the same point but in a more serious way – some people have conditions which prevent them from getting up at the crack of dawn.
Someone else said the idea would soon become pointless when the government implements its curfew for the over 70s and other people pointed out that bus passes don’t become valid until 9am or later.
The Tweet which probably summed things up the best though was: “Wouldn’t it be lovely if people could just behave sensibly and responsibly and not descend like hordes of locusts?”
