Approximately 780,000 employees work in grocery and drugstore retail in Germany. Due to its systemic relevance, this sector was largely exempt from closures as an infection control measure against the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus in spring of 2020. Thus, employees continued to work in the majority of cases, even though frequent contact with customers could pose infection risks - particularly during the payment process at the checkout counter.

The SARS-CoV-2 infection risk for employees in grocery and drugstore retail is estimated here using epidemiological data from scenarios outside the retail sector. An initial risk assessment under pandemic conditions is thus possible, even when no data on infection risk on site is available.

The investigated infection risk is primarily dependent on the current infection frequency on site - in addition to the number and duration of customer contacts. Technical, organizational and personal protective measures can further reduce the estimated risk.

English translation. German original version available: doi:10.21934/baua:fokus20201012