Quarantine for clothing as op shops open up

Donated goods are being put into quarantine to prevent the spread of Covid-19, meaning big changes for Op Shops.

Items are being quarantined from three to seven days by second-hand stores across New Zealand.

Taranaki Hospice op shops are directing all donations to their warehouse where they have the extra capacity to hold items for three days.

“With donations arriving from anywhere, we don’t know whose handled them, where they’ve been, where they’ve been stored,” said Paul Lamb, Hospice Taranaki chief executive.

Mr Lamb says they have had to hire two 40-foot shipping containers to comply with government rules under level 2.

“Donations have been phenomenally high,” he said.

SPCA Op shops are being more cautious.

“All the usual donations will be accepted, however, all items will be quarantined for at least seven days unless they can be given a thorough cleaning prior to being put up for sale,” said an SPCA spokesperson.

Staff are ensuring they comply with government rules set out on the Covid-19 website for second hand stores.

Save Mart is additionally quarantining all clothing that is tried on and not bought.

It is using a number of precautionary measures to ensure no further spread of Covid-19, including health declarations by staff, contract tracing, sanitising, social distancing and minimising cash payments.

“Customers drop off to clothing bins only, we do not accept walk in drop-offs of donations,” said one Save Mart employee.

When donating clothes to op shops, many now have specific times and drop-off areas established for each store.

AUDIO: Click here to listen to Paul Lamb Hospice Taranaki chief executive, discuss the operation of Hospice stores.