White House Official: Americans Should Avoid Grocery Shopping for 2 Weeks

Response coordinator for White House Coronavirus Task Force Deborah Birx speaks during the daily briefing on the CCP virus at the White House in a March 24, 2020, file photograph. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

A member of the White House’s CCP virus task force is warning against going out to buy groceries or medication as the pandemic is expected to reach its apex in the next two weeks.

“The next two weeks are extraordinarily important,” White House coronavirus response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx said on April 4. “This is the moment to not be going to the grocery store, not going to the pharmacy, but doing everything you can to keep your family and your friends safe,” she warned.

More than 9,500 deaths and more than 300,000 cases of CCP virus, commonly called the novel coronavirus, have been confirmed in the United States so far.

“This will probably be the toughest week, between this week and next week,“ President Donald Trump said during a press conference. “There will be a lot of death, unfortunately,” he said. “There will be death.”

New York state remains the epicenter in the United States as its death count surpassed 3,500, including more than 2,500 deaths reported in New York City on April 4, according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who also warned that the state has yet to reach its apex and predicted that it will occur in less than two weeks.

Walmart, Target Make Changes

Birx’s warning comes as Target and Walmart both said they would limit the number of people inside the store at one time.

A person shops in front of the empty shelves in the deli section of a Walmart Supercenter as concerns grow over the spread of CCP virus in Nashville, Tenn., on March 14, 2020. Jason Kempin/Getty Images

“Starting Saturday [April 4], we will limit the number of customers who can be in a store at once. Stores will now allow no more than five customers for each 1,000 square feet at a given time, roughly 20 percent of a store’s capacity,” according to a release from Walmart, one of the nation’s largest seller of groceries.

“Associates and signage will remind customers of the importance of social distancing while they’re waiting to enter a store—especially before it opens in the morning,” the store wrote.

Target on April 2 announced a similar measure to promote social distancing. The Minneapolis-based retailer said a statement that starting April 4, it would “actively monitor and, when needed, meter guest traffic in its nearly 1,900 stores nationwide to promote social distancing.”