ATLANTA — Its Memorial Day weekend and many of you are just itching to get out and about, and if you do, you'll find many stores and restaurants ready to serve you.
11Alive's La’Tasha Givens went to Atlantic Station where a small, but steady number of shoppers were out and about.
Retailers are encouraging customers to wear a mask, but if you don’t have one, they’ll offer you a complimentary one.
Taylor White and Maurice Smith beamed with pride and loaded with graduation money were at Atlantic Station for one reason their graduation party is tomorrow, and they want to look good.
““It’s been stressful wearing the same clothes ,” Smith said.
“It feels good to get money for this big accomplishment and it feels good to spend it on yourself and get new outfits because you haven’t been able to shop in two months,” White added.
Metro Atlanta Shopping Centers tell us they’re prepared for a potentially busy holiday weekend and have plans in place to keep employees and shoppers safe.
“We have restricted the use of every other appliance in our public restrooms to encourage people to be a little more socially distant,” a spokesperson told Givens.
Atlantic Station is also instituting, one-way sidewalks , touch-less hand sanitizer stations, extra cleanings for high touch point areas like bathrooms, handrails, elevators, vending machines and trash can lids.
According to Atlantic Station, about 60 percent of the shops are open right now.
While retailers are going out of their way to do their part, many of you have questions about the overall safety, We talked Dr. Sujatha Reddy
“If you have pre-existing medical conditions I would not recommend getting out. I think you have to be a little more careful,” Reddy said.
Dr Reddy says even if you’re healthy and not at high-risk, you should still follow social distancing guidelines. She says its best to ease back into the swing of things and maybe only go one place every few days instead of several places in one day.
“We know there are going to be new cases we just want to keep that number as low as possible, so we don’t overwhelm the healthcare system and keep everyone as healthy as post,” Reddy said.
Dr Reddy also recommends making sure you bring your own hand sanitizer and wipes with you while you shop so you can clean tour hands after touching clothing racks and other items.
11Alive is focusing our news coverage on the facts and not the fear around the virus. We want to keep you informed about the latest developments while ensuring that we deliver confirmed, factual information.
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