A plastic vapour barrier seals off the dispensary from the public at the downtown Pharmasave in P.A. (Glenn Hicks/paNOW Staff)

By Glenn Hicks

COVID-19

Local pharmacies seal off dispensaries

Mar 24, 2020 | 4:00 PM

Customers walking into their local pharmacy in Prince Albert might start seeing a different look when they go to pick up their medications or consult with their pharmacist.

Stores are following the lead of other cities in Canada and overseas in putting up a vapour barrier or screen between their dispensary and the public amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Pharmasave downtown is one such example where plastic material has gone up to help keep staff safe.

“We feel if the staff do become ill or symptomatic and we had to quarantine the entire dispensary, our store would have to shut,” store operator and managing partner Tracy Price told paNOW. “We’d [then] have a lot of customers’ health in jeopardy as they scrambled to transfer prescriptions around the city.”

The plastic vapour barrier has portals allowing for the pharmacist to pass prescriptions through to customers. (Glenn Hicks/paNOW Staff)

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Price explained the plastic barrier has a few cut-out portals through which the prescriptions can be passed to customers and those access points can be wiped down with high-strength sanitizer.

“We explain to our customers it’s for their safety and for our safety. We are concerned for our safety but we’re also concerned for theirs,” she said.

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glenn.hicks@jpbg.ca

On Twitter:@princealbertnow