Australia gets second wave of toilet paper hoarding

SYDNEY - Australia's supermarket chains on Friday reintroduced purchase limits on toilet paper and other household items as a spike in coronavirus cases in the state of Victoria set off a fresh round of panic-buying over fears of a new stay-at-home order.

Woolworths Group Ltd and Coles Group Ltd, which together account for two-thirds of Australian grocery sales, said they were once again limiting purchases of toilet paper and paper towels to one or two packs per person after photos circulated on social media showing empty shelves in stores.

The buying restrictions - and images of stripped shelves - are a reminder of Australia's initial response to the arrival of COVID-19 when shoppers stockpiled household goods in anticipation of a protracted shutdown.

With only 7,500 cases in total and 104 deaths, Australia has been easing restrictions on movement, but a string of double-digit increases in cases in the second-most populous state, Victoria, led to a pause in the reopening there - and prompted shoppers to hoard.

Now the pattern has spread nationwide.

"We've regrettably started to see elevated demand for toilet roll move outside Victoria in the past 24 hours," said Woolworths managing director of supermarkets, Claire Peters, in a statement.

"While the demand is not at the same level as Victoria, we're taking preventative action now to get ahead of any excessive buying this weekend," she added.

The company had ordered an extra 650,000 additional packs of toilet paper, 30% over its usual amount.

A Coles spokesman said the chain was restricting toilet paper and paper towel purchases to one pack per person nationwide, with Victoria-only limits on purchase of hand sanitiser, pasta, eggs, rice and other staples.

Despite the Victoria spike, the prime minister and chief medical officer have said the virus remains under control in Australia and the country will continue with a plan to reopen the economy. (Reporting by Byron Kaye; editing by Richard Pullin)

-reuters-

Panic buying follows coronavirus across the globe

HONG KONG - Shelves are being stripped bare of toilet rolls, hand sanitizer and surgical masks everywhere from Japan to France to the United States as panic buying criss-crosses the globe with the coronavirus, defying repeated calls for calm and disrupting supply chains.


Obsessively documented on social media, scrambles to the shops and empty shelves are adding panic and confusion to the fight against an epidemic that has killed thousands, placed millions under quarantine and battered global markets.

Australia's biggest supermarket this week began rationing sales of toilet paper after police had to be called to a shop in Sydney when a knife was drawn in a scuffle over the scarce commodity.

On Saturday Japan's prime minister took to Twitter to calm fears of a national shortage, while social media photos from the US show toilet paper shelves lying bare.

Psychologists say a mix of herd mentality and over-exposure to coverage of the virus is to blame. 

"We might be less irrational if we weren't being reminded so much of the potential dangers by the news," London-based consumer psychologist Kate Nightingale told AFP.

"We either avoid the topic or we go completely nuts and stock up on anything we might just need."

Panic buying of non-medical items like toilet paper "gives people this sense of control that 'I will have what I need when I want'," Andy Yap, a psychologist and Charlene Chen, who specializes in marketing and business in Singapore told AFP in an email.

The city-state experienced its own recent run on toilet paper, traceable, they said to a "believable" rumor of an impending shortage due to shutdowns in virus-stricken China, a major producer.

Endlessly scrolling through social media also "distorts our perceptions and makes us think that things are a lot more serious than they truly are," they said. 

As the uncertainty grows, they added, items such as surgical masks and hand sanitizer transform into "problem-solving goods... that seemingly help people gain control over the virus."

'THE ODD ONE OUT'

Single-use surgical masks that typically retail for just a few US cents are also hot property, exacerbated by restrictions on exports from China, the leading producer, as the government keeps more back for domestic usage.

Last month ten thousand people queued outside a Hong Kong shop that had secured a shipment, and days later masks were voted the most desirable gifts to receive for Valentine's Day.

In London, masks are now going for more than 100 times their normal retail price, while French authorities said they will requisition all face mask stocks and production.

The demand is being "driven by panic buying, stockpiling and speculation," World Health Organization spokeswoman Fadela Chaib told AFP.

This is despite the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention saying it did not "recommend the use of facemasks" to help combat the outbreak.

But in crowded, paranoid cities where others are already wearing them, donning a mask can be comforting -- if ineffective.

"You don't want to be the odd one out," Nightingale said.

"At the end of the day, we do need our social groups for survival so it's a primal instinct to obey whatever needs that society imposes on us." 

'TRUSTED FACES'

As more countries report new cases, Yap and Chen said it was important for authorities to "re-establish control" over information and rumors that spark hoarding and panic-buying.

"In times of uncertainty, it is good to set rules because rules provide a sense of order and control." 

Governments also need to be clear in explaining any new rules and why they are important in the fight against the virus.

But, Nightingale said, with distrust of health authorities on the rise in the West over mandatory vaccinations and with governments and companies "among the least trusted institutions," this might be difficult. 

"Hiring trusted faces could help... David Attenborough might work for a certain kind of customer profile, like the over 40s. For younger profiles, you could turn to social media influencers."

Agence France-Presse

Panic-buying hits Singapore after virus alert raised

SINGAPORE - Anxious Singapore shoppers formed long lines at grocery stores Saturday and cleared the shelves of essential items, after the city-state raised its alert level over China's coronavirus outbreak.

Since emerging late last year, the virus has killed over 700 people and infected more than 34,000 in China, and spread to many other countries.


Singapore, which has reported 33 cases, raised its alert level Friday to "orange" -- the same as during the deadly 2003 SARS outbreak, indicating the virus is severe and passes easily between people.

The announcement triggered panic in the city-state of 5.7 million starting late Friday, with shoppers -- many wearing masks -- rushing to stock up on items including rice, noodles and toilet paper.

Pictures circulating on social media showed empty shelves in some stores, carts filled with goods and long lines at counters, which continued into Saturday.

"I'm afraid that if they further raise the alert level, we will not be able to go out," a 50-year-old housewife, who did not want to be named, told AFP after leaving a grocery store.

The highest level on Singapore's 4-point scale for dealing with disease outbreaks is "red," one above "orange."

There were, however, ample stocks of other items such as fruit, meat, fish and alcohol.

The government urged calm, with Trade Minister Chan Chun Sing saying there was no need to rush out to buy crucial supplies.

"There is no risk of us running a shortage of essential food or household items," he wrote on Facebook.

Singapore raised its alert level amid a growing number of virus cases in citizens with no recent travel history to mainland China and no known links to previous infections.

Hong Kong has also been hit by a wave of panic-buying in recent days as it seeks to battle the virus, with supermarket shelves frequently emptied of crucial goods.

source: news.abs-cbn.com