Acknowledging the integral role of medical workers and first responders in the fight against the novel coronavirus, Costco on Wednesday said it would begin giving them priority access to its stores.
Health care workers, police officers, firefighters, EMT’s and other first responders will be moved to the front of any line to enter a Costco warehouse, the company said on its website.
All they have to do is present a membership card as well as an official employment identification to receive the priority access.
This is the latest in a series of temporary policy changes Costco has enacted since the coronavirus crisis intensified in the U.S. last month.
Costco recently announced it would limit capacity in stores by only allowing two people in per membership as it sought to help members comply with social distancing measures.
The company has also changed its operating hours, allotted special shopping times for those over the age of 60 or who have a physical impairment, and placed purchasing limits on popular items like toilet paper and bottled water.
Costco began implementing the measures after seeing increasingly larger crowds of shoppers amid a wave of panic buying in the past month, as people looked to stock up on basic household necessities and cleaning products amid the pandemic.