SALT LAKE CITY -- Wait times for online grocery pick-up continues to get longer as more people are finding new ways to get their groceries.
Many people are turning to popular shopping companies like Instacart and Shipt to have their shopping done for them.
Cindy Benkaim was hired as a Shipt Shopper almost five years ago.
“When I started, my whole idea was I would do this a couple days a week,” she said.
The shopping lover quickly decided she loved the job and started shopping more and more. She could have never predicted how busy she would become, though.
“It’s been crazy busy. I would say 50 percent of my customers are new customers since the pandemic,” she said.
Some days Benkaim will work 12 hours running around the city shopping and delivering groceries during the COVID-19 pandemic.
She’s taking every precaution to stay safe, she said. She is stocked with masks, gloves and hand sanitizer.
“My hands are raw because of all the washing I’m doing,” she said.
Personal hygiene is the most important thing right now, said Dr. Mark Ott, Intermountain Medical Center Medical Director. It is also important to continue to wear a mask and follow guidelines.
“Even if you feel goofy about it, what you’re doing is benefiting everybody else, more than yourself even,” he said.
The CDC recommends people wear masks when going in public; Dr. Ott agrees.
“That really is more about being kind to your neighbor than it is to protect yourself. The cloth masks in no way prevent you from contracting a disease, but what they do do is if you happen to have a respiratory illness — COVID-19 or anything else — they decrease the probability that they are transmitting it to other people,” he said.
While helping the stores stay less crowded is a bonus, Benkaim said the extra money is nice as well.
“I am getting spoiled right now with doing so many orders. But when things get back to normal, I will cut back,” she said.
For more information on Shipt, click here.
For the latest COVID-19 news in Utah, click here.
