Bread Lines Next? Maryland County Proposes Plan to Limit Grocery Shopping Trips Based on Last Names

A Maryland county is proposing assigning days that people are allowed to go to grocery and convenience stores based on what letter their last name begins with.

Calvert County’s voluntary plan would limit people’s shopping to once every five days.

The Hill reports that under the plan, A-C last names can shop on dates ending with 0 and 5, D-G names shop on dates ending with 1 and 6, H-L names go on dates ending with 2 and 7, M-R names can shop on dates ending with 3 and 8, and last names starting with S-Z shop on dates ending with 4 and 9.

The guidance was published by the Calvert County Health Department on Wednesday.

“We all want to get back to our normal lives as soon as possible. Our actions make a difference. Sustaining those actions are the key to lowering our risk of infection and lifting social restrictions. We can’t speed up time, but we can dramatically slow the spread of the virus,” the county said in their announcement.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has also ordered that anyone going into shops or using public transportation in Maryland will also be required to wear masks beginning on Saturday.

“The Maryland county also said that beginning Thursday all stores must properly disinfect all shopping carts or make antiseptic wipes available for customer use at the entrance, and everyone waiting in line at deli counters or registers must stay at least six feet apart. It also said there should be an occupancy limit of five people per 1,000 square feet, which the county said echoes policies from Walmart and grocery store chain Giant,” the Hill reports.