JEDDAH/RIYADH/DAMMAM: Doubts about the quality of disinfectants, a general lack of awareness and inherent apathy are the leading factors to a lukewarm overall response to the use of antibacterial fluids and hand tissues at commercial centers, malls and supermarkets before or after using shopping carts.
The Jeddah municipality ordered on July 28 all commercial centers, malls and supermarkets to place antibacterial deep-cleansing hand gel and tissue paper near trolleys for customers to clean their hands before taking trolleys. It also ordered the posting of signs in both Arabic and English requesting shoppers to sterilize their hands.
The move was recommended by the Health Ministry as a precautionary measure against swine flu. Dr. Khaled Al-Mirghalani, spokesman for the Ministry of Health, told Arab News that his ministry had recommended to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs the use of sanitizers in public places such as malls and supermarkets to control the spread of swine flu.
“All those who visit places where there is a congestion of crowd should sanitize their hands,” Al-Mirghalani said, pointing out that the ministry has issued necessary guidelines to control the spread of the H1N1 virus. “It is the duty of people to cooperate with the authorities in combating the flu,” he added.
An Arab News survey of major markets and malls in the Kingdom found very few following the municipal mandate. In general, except for supermarkets and hypermarkets, most small shopping centers and “baqalas” have not taken up the precautionary measure. Apart from a lack of awareness, many of the shops cited an increase in costs as one of the reasons for ignoring the directive. In many places, sanitizing products are unavailable. But even in places where the hand gel is made available, people fail to take precautions.
Many shoppers were reportedly suspicious about the harmful effects of the continuous use of such fluids, Arab News learned from mall officials. The provision of antibacterial deep-cleansing hand gel is also expensive as a single mall requires 300 bottles costing SR10,000 each day.
Meanwhile, Adel Turkistani, director of preventive medicine at the Health Department in Jeddah, said the municipality’s recommendations were not practical. “This measure alone will not be able to prevent the spread of swine flu,” he pointed out.
He, however, said the measure would be useful in places used by children and the elderly. “Enhancing public awareness about personal cleanliness is the best way to prevent the disease,” he said, adding that people should clean their hands using water and soap several times a day.
Dr. Abdul Ghaffar Azhary, director of pest control and health protection at the municipality, said antibacterial fluids should be applied not only on shopping carts but also on other places which people touch in order to protect them from infection. He downplayed the harmful effect of these fluids and towels, as the chemicals that they contain are diluted.
Meanwhile, owners of shopping malls have urged the municipality to review its “impractical and expensive” decision.
All major supermarkets in Jeddah have, however, placed hand sanitizers at their entrances and some, such as Bin Dawood, have placed them in different sections of their supermarkets. It was also noticed at several supermarkets in Jeddah that although hand sanitizers are placed right where customers take trolleys only a fraction care to sanitize their hands.
Managers of several supermarkets complained that it is very hard to get customers to listen. Khalid Al-Hada, general manager of Hyper Panda in the Jamea district, said the supermarket is planning to distribute flyers and make regular announcements on its public address system prompting incoming customers to sanitize their hands, and will also consider standing staff at its entrance to explain to customers the importance of sanitizing their hands.
Madhar Al-Habshi, who is in charge of the Danube 5 branch, said that the store prompts customers over the public address system every two to three hours to sanitize their hands. “But as you can see for yourself very few customers care to listen,” he added.
An employee of another supermarket said it is very hard to approach customers to ask them to sanitize their hands. “Some get very angry and consider it discourteous as though we are telling them that they are dirty,” he said.
Ali Omar Abdu Asiri, supervisor at the Bin Dawood in the Bawadi district, also complained of customers not using hand sanitizers. “We also had labels on trolley handles asking customers to use the hand sanitizer,” he said.
A survey in Riyadh revealed that hypermarkets have installed the instant hand sanitizers, while supermarkets have not. A customer relations officer at a hypermarket, who wished to remain anonymous, told Arab News that health conscious customers make use of the facility while others do not care.
A customer said that the machine is useful for those who patronize public places. He, however, added that the machines are only available inside hypermarkets and that customers only need them after loading goods into their vehicles. He also suggested that the machines be installed in parking lots.
Hilmy Sathar, who frequents most supermarkets, said machines should be fixed in conspicuous places so customers could make use of them.
A Filipino expatriate, who had come to a supermarket with a facemask, said: “We have to take our own precautions in light of the guidelines given by the Ministry of Health. I, therefore, do not feel shy to wear this facemask in public places. It will protect me from infections as well as prevent them spreading from me.”
Answering a question from Arab News, an official from a supermarket where there is no such machine, said he is unaware of any rule to that effect. “We do not want to comment on matters not known to us,” he added.
In five out of seven supermarkets that Arab News visited in the Eastern Province, there was no antibacterial soap solution for customers to wipe their hands at the end of their shopping.
On-duty supervisors refused to talk about the issue and directed Arab News to talk to managers during daytime.
Many customers, who were busy buying grocery, seemed completely unaware of the Health Ministry’s guidelines on swine flu. “We heard about swine flu in the newspapers and on television, and we know that we have to immediately visit the hospital if there are flu-like symptoms such as high fever, coughing and vomiting. However, we don’t know how to stop getting the virus. We guess, we will get it however much we try to avoid it,” said Abdul Waheed Al-Abki, a father of four who was shopping at a popular supermarket chain in Alkhobar.
He said it never occurred to him to use antibacterial solution after using the trolleys. “First of all, there is no such solution here and, secondly, I just paid a couple of riyals to the shopping attendant to put my stuff in my car trunk,” he added.
Another shopper, Nesreen Malik, a Pakistani expat who was accompanied by her two children, said she was taking no chances and had a small bottle of antibacterial solution in her handbag.
“I don’t know if this supermarket has one ready but I have been carrying this ever since we had a death in our neighborhood some 10 days ago,” she said.
“We were initially very scared and refused to go out but after reading reports in the newspaper that there is nothing to panic about, we started going out but only when it is an absolute must. I make my children wash their hands with this soap solution thoroughly every time we are in a public place,” she added.
— Muhammad Humaidan and Arjuwan Lakkdawala in Jeddah; Mohammed Rasooldeen in Riyadh and Siraj Wahab in Dammam contributed to the report
