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A Croydon Cosco staff member was filmed disinfecting trolleys as shoppers entered the store amid fears over coronavirus.
A customer filmed the moment members of the public “lined up obediently” at the branch on Thursday,
He said staff sprayed them with a “disinfectant-like liquid”.
The leap in Covid-19 cases to 163 has prompted concerns across the country, with homeowners stockpiling basic essentials and gas masks spotted on the Tube.
Londoners wear coronavirus masks – In pictures
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The coronavirus outbreak will unlikely lead to a Tube ban
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People wear masks at Holborn underground Station
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A man who appears to be homeless sleeping wearing a mask in Victoria
Jeremy Selwyn
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A commuter on the tube wearing a face mask
Jeremy Selwyn
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Boris Johnson speaking during a press conference on the government’s coronavirus action plan
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The coronavirus outbreak will unlikely lead to a Tube ban
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People wear masks at Holborn underground Station
Jeremy Selwyn
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People wear masks at Holborn underground Station
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A woman wears a mask while crossing London Bridge
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People wear masks at Holborn underground Station
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A woman wearing a face mask on the London Underground.
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A man who appears to be homeless sleeping wearing a mask in Victoria
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People wear masks at Holborn underground Station
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Wholesale retailer Costco said no clothing or bodies were sprayed and insisted the worker was “simply sanitising trolley handles as a precautionary measure”.
The customer who filmed the video, who has not been named, said it was a “peculiar situation”.
“There were no available trolleys and by time I reached the top of the line I noticed the security guard/sales assistant had a translucent canister and he was spraying everyone as they walked in,” he told MailOnline.
“You would show your card and then receive a squirt of whatever was in there and then you would get a tissue.”
He added that staff told him it was in response to the coronavirus outbreak.
It comes as shelves were stripped bare as panic-buyers flock to supermarkets for toilet rolls, hand soap, and foods including pasta and rice.
Stores including Waitrose, Superdrug and Boots all reported a spike in sales of hand sanitisers, as a coronavirus frenzy saw some London Tube passengers spotted in plastic boxes and gas masks, with one traveller’s face even wrapped in a blanket.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock tried to reassure the public there “won’t be a problem” with food supplies in a Question Time appearance, prompting an audience member to demand action from the government to stop the practice.
Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium (BRC) on behalf of supermarkets, reassured that the industry was “working constructively with Government officials to ensure that supermarkets remain stocked and supply chains continue to function as normal for the foreseeable future”.
