AARP Hearing Center
Bulk retailer Costco Wholesale has stopped offering special hours two days a week when only older people and others at heightened risk from coronavirus infections were permitted to shop.
Previously, only club members 60 and older, people with disabilities, and immunocompromised shoppers were permitted to shop during the hour-long time slot on Tuesdays and Thursdays. In addition, Costco members who worked in health care or as first responders could shop during those hours with proper identification.
Costco has 573 locations in 46 U.S. states and Puerto Rico
The change in the retailer’s policy, effective April 18, comes as the average number of new infections is up 19.1 percent from the previous seven-day average, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Members who do not want to shop during regular hours are encouraged to visit Costco.com for their shopping needs, the company said. More information on specific warehouse hours may be found here.
Special shopping hours at supermarkets, instituted by many chains soon after the onset of the pandemic in the spring of 2020 and long before vaccines became available, were designed to limit coronavirus exposure for older customers as well as for those with underlying health conditions, who are more susceptible to serious cases of COVID-19. But with the wide availability of vaccines, many retailers reduced or eliminated special shopping hours and eased or eliminated face mask requirements.
