Walmart Made This Big Change to Their Shopping Hours Amid Reopening

Walmart revealed that they are indefinitely keeping one major shopping policy recently instituted as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The special shopping hour for seniors and those most vulnerable will continue as part of their standard operating hours, Walmart said in a statement to USA Today.

No other national retail chain has been as responsive to the threat of the coronavirus to its shoppers and staff than Walmart. To be fair, most retail chains have also been remarkably responsible for doing everything they can to respect concerns put forth by medical and public health experts concerned about the outbreak of COVID-19.

Walmart instituted numerous policies, including making masks mandatory for staff members, introducing one-way shopping aisles to promote social distancing, and allowing only a certain number of shoppers in the store at one time to limit interaction. Experts now know that the most dangerous place for contracting the coronavirus is poorly ventilated, indoor, and highly trafficked/crowded areas.

Like most grocery chains, Walmart also instituted a special time only for seniors and vulnerable shoppers, which they will be continuing for some time, according to reporting by USA Today:

Walmart officials told USA Today that its special shopping hour for seniors and those most vulnerable has been extended. Initially, the designated hour began in March and was set to end in late April but was extended through May and now until further notice.

"As for operating hours, right now our priority is making additional services available (auto care center, vision center, etc.) as it is safe to do so," Walmart said in a statement to USA TODAY. "After that we'll decide the best approach to expanding hours."

As the world reawakens from the coronavirus, we will all need to adjust to a "new normal" until reliable therapeutic and vaccines are universally available.  Some changes to the way we live our lives might be an inconvenience and may take some adjusting. Some changes, however, might be a good thing to keep for some time. Providing an exclusive hour for the elderly and most vulnerable among us? Well, that's likely a change we can all get behind.