Distributing Health & Safety Kits for Shoppers

As we’ve shared with you over the past few weeks, we’re working closely with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), state and local health officials, and a panel of medical and academic experts to ensure we’re providing shoppers with all of the recommended health and safety resources to support you while you shop. As the COVID-19 situation continues to rapidly evolve, we’re committed to introducing new measures and features that best serve you.

Health and Safety Kits for Shoppers

Over the last several weeks, we’ve been working with several third-party manufacturers and consulting with medical and infectious disease experts to source and develop new health and safety kits for full-service shoppers that include face masks, hand sanitizer, and a thermometer.

Up until this point, the guidance from the CDC has been consistent and clear — social distancing and frequent hand washing with warm, soapy water remain the best deterrents to the spread of COVID-19. However, we understand that the situation continues to evolve quickly. As a result, we’ve taken proactive steps to secure face masks and thermometers, and have manufactured hand sanitizer, for Instacart shoppers. Our goal is to provide you with the resources you need, while also ensuring we aren’t impacting critical supply needs of medical personnel and first responders throughout North America.

Starting next week, you can place an order for a health and safety kit, which will be available free of charge and include the following:

• Face Mask — A washable and reusable cloth face mask that’s made of cotton and polyester to use while shopping. These are multi-use masks that do not impact the healthcare and medical community’s supply.
• Hand Sanitizer — An ethyl alcohol-based hand sanitizer that exceeds the CDC’s guidance.
• Thermometer — A reusable forehead thermometer that provides a fast and accurate temperature check in approximately 15 seconds.

COVID-19 Resource Center

We’re also launching a new Instacart COVID-19 Resource Center — covidresponse.instacart.com — to continuously share additional details about how we’re responding to the COVID-19 crisis. The site includes information about our shopper health and safety guidelines, resources and features; product and support information for customers; details on Instacart’s COVID-19 health and safety advisory panel; and more.

Updated Shopper Health & Safety Guidelines

In addition, we’re regularly updating the shopper health and safety guidelines to ensure we’re reflecting the most up-to-date and applicable information. For more details on essential services and the distribution of health and safety supplies, please visit the shopper health & safety guidelines.

Our Commitment to You

Our teams are working around the clock to ensure you continue to have the resources and support you need. We want to provide customers with an essential service they can rely on to get their groceries and household goods, while also offering safe and flexible earnings opportunities to all of you. As COVID-19 evolves, our teams will continue to work quickly to ensure our shopper community is supported during this time.

Thank you for being part of the Instacart community.

Instacart

Author

Instacart is the leading grocery technology company in North America, partnering with more than 1,400 national, regional, and local retail banners to deliver from more than 80,000 stores across more than 14,000 cities in North America. To read more Instacart posts, you can browse the company blog or search by keyword using the search bar at the top of the page.