Amazon has a new policy! It will stop accepting new customer orders!

Yesterday, according to foreign media reports, e-retail giant Amazon said on Sunday local time in the United States that due to the surge in demand caused by the outbreak of the new coronavirus, the company will begin to suspend accepting orders from new grocery delivery customers and shorten shopping hours at some Whole Foods supermarkets to prioritize online purchase orders from existing customers.

Many shoppers seeking to buy groceries from Amazon recently found themselves unable to place their orders due to a lack of available delivery slots. Amazon said it would have to relegate all new online grocery customers to a waiting list starting Monday while it works to add capacity each week. In recent weeks, Amazon has increased the number of Whole Foods stores offering grocery pickup to more than 150, up from 80 previously.

Amazon also said it plans to shorten the hours some Whole Foods stores are open to the public so its employees can fulfill online grocery orders more quickly. The moves show how the world's largest online retailer, which first showed its ambitions to enter the grocery industry with its $13.7 billion acquisition of Whole Foods in August 2017, is now using its online and physical presence to meet surging demand from consumers stuck at home as many restaurants close to the public.

Amazon offers grocery delivery services Amazon Fresh and Amazon Prime Now from its own warehouses and Whole Foods stores. It typically touts ultra-fast deliveries within a few hours, allowing shoppers to choose a delivery window. Last month, Amazon temporarily suspended its Prime Pantry delivery service, which sells and delivers non-perishable food items.

Amazon said its online grocery orders increased more than 60% during the outbreak. Some netizens said they used Amazon Prime, its $119-a-year subscription service for U.S. shoppers. Still, they complained on social media about the scarcity of delivery windows.

The company explained that it is currently hiring more employees to expand delivery capacity and plans to launch a new feature to help customers get a virtual "line position" to get a delivery window on a first-come, first-served basis. Amazon is also offering higher wages to encourage its warehouse workers to work for its grocery delivery service.

Amazon currently operates 487 Whole Foods Market stores in the United States. Those stores have been limiting the number of customers allowed in at one time, and Amazon said it conducts daily temperature checks on employees and sends masks and gloves to protect workers. Amazon said the first store of the much-anticipated new grocery chain, which is scheduled to open this year in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, has been temporarily converted into a warehouse for online orders.

Still, many Whole Foods and Amazon warehouse workers have protested that the company isn’t doing enough to protect them, and the demonstrations have drawn attention from lawmakers and unions. More than 50 Amazon fulfillment centers and several Whole Foods stores have had workers tested positive for the coronavirus, according to multiple reports.

“We continue to expect that limited capacity due to social distancing and customer demand will continue to make finding available delivery windows challenging for customers,” Stefinie Landry, vice president of Amazon’s grocery business, wrote in a blog post. “We strongly encourage these customers to shop in person when conditions allow.”