Tesco asks people to visit stores to get food despite virus panic

Food will still need to be purchased in-store despite the coronavirus pandemic, Tesco said today.

Chief executive Dave Lewis said.”Between 85% and 90% of all food bought will require a visit to a store and here significant changes to the store environment have been implemented to maximise safety for colleagues and customers.”

The news comes as the supermarket giant reported a sharp fall in pre-tax profit for the year to the end of February, down almost 19% to £1.3bn, largely due to restructuring costs in Europe.

The virus could lead to Tesco adding almost £1bn in extra costs due to extra staff and store expenses. It said it had already experienced a “significant absence” of staff amid the virus and had recruited more than 45,000 new staff over the past two weeks to cope with the heightened demand.