Tesco, the largest retailer in the UK, and Kroger, the second biggest in the US, have followed J Sainsbury in cutting fish counters in the intensifying COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

The move from retailers is driven by a need to free up shop space for essentials, as shoppers stock up with cases of COVID-19 increasing in both countries. 

In a message to customers on March 18, Dave Lewis, Tesco CEO, said the company is closing all fish counters, "in order to protect the core shopping essentials". Tesco already closed fish counters in some 90 stores at the start of 2019. 

"In order to allow Tesco colleagues to focus on stocking shelves, helping to provide the essential groceries you are looking for and to avoid waste, we will close all meat, fish, deli counters and salad bars," wrote Lewis. "It is fair to say that we find ourselves in uncharted waters. COVID-19 is bringing a change to the UK and it’s clear that lots of things are going to have to shift around in order to help us cope."

Tesco has been "doing everything we can to keep business as usual, but we now have to accept it is not business as usual", he said. "In the last two weeks, we have seen significant and prolonged increases in demand across all of our stores and this is leading to shortages in some products for some customers."

In order to protect the core shopping essentials, Tesco will implement some changes to stores, he said. "The changes are designed to simplify what we do so that we can provide more of what people need in a clean and safe environment. We ask for your understanding and your support."

On March 18, US-based Kroger announced its fish and meat counters will close, as will its salad bars, reports Journal-News, a news source serving Butler County in the US state of Ohio, where the retailer is based. 

"You will see closures of our service departments, our meat case, salad bars," said spokeswoman Erin Rolfes. "It's not due to concerns about spreading disease... it is all just to reallocate resources to make sure the shelves are stocked." 

She said steaks, seafood, and lunch meat will be sliced and packaged overnight and placed in coolers for customers to grab. "There's no change in product, there just won't be someone to hand it to you from behind the counter."

Mike Coupe, CEO of Sainsbury's, said the move from his company was driven by a need to "free up warehouse and lorry capacity for products that customers really need. It will also free up time for our store colleagues to focus on keeping the shelves as well-stocked as possible". 

Asda, the UK retailer owned by Walmart, the largest retailer in the US, made the decision to remove fish counters in January before COVID-19 had spread from China to Europe. 

Wm Morrison Supermarkets and Waitrose, the other big UK retailers, were not immediately available for comment to Undercurrent News.