Covid19 not stopping shopping on Charlotte Street

It was a normal Saturday in the hub of Port of Spain, Charlotte Street and Independence Square, as the people went about their shopping even with TT on caution mode over covid19.

People have been advised to avoid close contact as many events were cancelled over the weekend as a precaution against the spread of the virus. TT has two confirmed cases as of Friday.

Drivers said it was relatively easy getting in and out of the town as there was much less traffic and people on the roads than other Saturdays.

Charlotte Street vendors said there was the typical Saturday crowd but many complained that people were only buying fruits, vegetables, and hand sanitiser.

One vendor said his fruits and vegetables were “selling like crazy” but that people were not lingering. Instead, they knew what they wanted, bought it and left immediately.

Donna, a ground provision vendor, was very upset about people’s choices. “It have plenty people but they just in the stores buying hand sanitiser. They selling small bottles for $50, $60, $70 and people buying it. You can’t even get rubbing alcohol. But like they don’t realise they need my produce to stay healthy. They need food too. I don’t know what taking place here.”

A clothes vendor agreed that it was a “normal Saturday” on Charlotte Street but she was not getting any sales because no one was buying clothes. Instead, she said they were buying soap, bleach, and other cleaning agents.

A supervisor at Pennywise agreed saying that items like liquid soap, Lysol and hand sanitiser were bought out before 11 am. However, she said Saturday was much calmer than on Friday when there was a mad rush for those items as well as wipes, masks and gloves. She said customers were grabbing the items off the shelves and even from the boxes as the staff tried to stack the shelves.

One worker at Ali’s Pharmacy said the drug store was much more busy than usual and people were mostly buying vitamins, echinacea, and other drugs to boost the immune system. People were also buying gloves and masks although they had to limit the sale of masks to two per customer. In addition, the workers themselves wore gloves to protect themselves, as well as to make customers feel safer.