Grocery stores in the metro are changing how they do business.

Many have adjusted hours to give employees time to restock shelves and deep clean stores.

Shoppers are also being asked to allow elderly or otherwise at-risk shoppers to go first, along with other voluntary restrictions.

Kathy Siefken, executive director of the Nebraska Grocery Industry Association, announced that some products won’t be immediately available in grocery stores. She estimated that about 70% of products that are typically on the shelf will still be there.

There’s no risk of food shortages, she added.

Siefken asked families to send one shopper to the store, maintain social distancing – including with clerks and store employees – and use bags provided by a store, not their reusable bags.

“If you have any at-risk family members, please shop for them,” Siefken said.

Siefken also urged the public to allow the elderly and those most at risk to do their shopping during the first hour any store is open – even if they don’t have an explicit policy, as many stores now do.

“We simply need to use common sense, think about what we’re doing and continue to be part of the solution,” Siefken said. “We are Nebraska Strong, and together we can get through this.”