Grocery stores across Canada are changing their hours to support hard-working employees during the COVID-19 outbreak.

On Thursday, Loblaw Companies Limited Executive Chairman Galen Weston announced that grocery stores will now be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. in order to give exhausted employees time for "for extra sanitization and a bit of rest."

The first hour will be dedicated to seniors and shoppers with disabilities.

The company owns popular Canadian grocery stores such as Loblaws, No Frills, Superstore and T&T;.

A special message from Galen Weston about COVID-19 and how it may affect your experience in our stores. pic.twitter.com/LniXmAsyeP

— PC Optimum (@pc_optimum) March 19, 2020

Grocery stores will also begin limiting the number of people allowed in stores at one time to give employees and shoppers an "appropriate amount of space."

Weston reassured customers that while shopping volumes are high, the flow of goods to grocery stores remains stable.

Sobeys is similarly changing its hours to protect employees, operating from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. The Canadian grocery store will also protect customers by requiring employees to wash their hands every 15 minutes, wipe down carts, and cancelling product demos.

The health and wellness of our teammates and customers remains our very top priority. In our effort to do everything we can to help keep our communities healthy, as of Friday March 20, we are temporarily changing our store hours to 8:00AM – 8:00PM daily. pic.twitter.com/dlu8bVIIJv

— Sobeys (@sobeys) March 19, 2020

"These are quite substantial changes," Weston said, speaking about Loblaws Companies' alterations due to COVID-19. "But, we believe they are essential."

"We ask for your patience and support as we do our best to keep our stores open and operating as safely and effectively as possible, for our colleagues, and for you."