Laughter still the best medicine
From laughs to making the most of loneliness, pharmacies have adjusted to a new normal under the coronavirus lockdown.
Lynda Battah, who owns the Len Hooper Pharmacy in Lower Hutt, has been trying to put a smile on the faces of her customers by literally rolling out the red carpet and giving them the VIP – very isolated person – treatment.
‘‘Laughter is the best the pharmacist said.
Like other pharmacies, only a single customer is allowed in at a time. But at Len Hooper, queuing customers are kept behind a velvet rope and golden stanchions before walking the red carpet to enter the store.
‘‘I couldn’t handle looking at the orange cones we had outside [before the velvet rope] for four weeks,’’ Battah said. ‘‘It’s an unprecedented time for pharmacies in particular and we’re trying to keep everyone’s spirits up.’’
She said the pharmacy’s dispensary medicine,’’ was being kept busy, despite a downturn in foot traffic.
Porirua’s Life Pharmacy was making the most of the deserted North City Shopping Centre by setting up a flu jab station in the area outside the store that would unusually be filled with shoppers.
Manager Glenn Brider believed the pharmacy was the only store open in the mall.
‘‘It’s very eerie. Just being able to get a coffee – we can’t do [that] any more. It does feel isolating.’’
There was still a steady churn of people though the doors, with up to 20 people getting their flu shots a day, and others arriving to pick up scripts, he said. Customers have to queue outside and are allowed in one at a time.
Retail sales were well down, he said. High demand for bottles of hand sanitiser, masks, thermometers and gloves was not quite making up for the shortfall.
Brider said his floor and dispensary staff had dealt with the situation with good humour.
The unsung heroes were the accountants and administrative staff working for the pharmacy’s parent company, Green Cross Health, he added.