The city of San Francisco is forbidding shoppers from carrying reusable bags into grocery stores out of fear that they could spread the coronavirus.
As part of its shelter-in-place ordinance, the California city barred stores from “permitting customers to bring their own bags, mugs, or other reusable items from home.” The city noted that transferring the bags back and forth led to unnecessary contact between employees and shoppers.
This decision leaves shoppers with few options to carry home their goods. The city was the first to ban plastic shopping bags in 2007 to reduce the amount of plastic waste produced by residents. Most stores switched to paper bags only, with many residents opting to use reusable totes.
As of Thursday, California had the third most cases of the coronavirus in the United States. The state reported more than 9,900 confirmed cases with 216 related deaths.
