Australians rushed to the stores for toilet paper again. This is due to a sharp increase in the number of Victoria coronavirus infections. Supermarket chains restored limits on the purchase of this product and other household items on Friday.
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The Woolworths Group Ltd and Coles Group Ltd networks, which together account for two-thirds of Australian food sales, have reported that they are once again limiting the purchase of toilet paper and paper towels to one or two packages per person after publishing photos on social media showing empty shelves in shops.
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Restrictions on purchases and the view of stripped shelves remind us of Australia’s initial response to the Covid-19 epidemic as buyers accumulated household items in anticipation of protracted quarantine, the Reuters agency notes.
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The second wave of “hunting” for paper
Since the outbreak of Australia, only 7,641 coronavirus infections and 104 deaths have been reported.
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In Australia, mobility restrictions have been eased, but the double-digit increase in infection rates in Victoria, the country’s second most populous state, has caused restrictions to loosen, encouraging buyers to accumulate inventory. As indicated by Reuters, this pattern has spread throughout the country and one can speak of a second wave of “hunting” Australian consumers for toilet paper and regulating it by sellers.
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For the first time Australians, for fear of coronavirus, began massively buying toilet paper in early March; then the sellers also introduced regulation.
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AFP writes about the “shopping fever” of clients panicked by the increase in the number of infections in Melbourne, Victoria’s largest city. Over the past 24 hours, 30 new infections have been diagnosed.
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“Stop it, it’s funny”
“Stop it, it’s funny,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison appealed to the citizens, explaining that new infections in Sydney’s second largest city did not threaten Australia’s good results in the fight against coronavirus.
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“Over the past 24 hours, we’ve seen an increase in demand for toilet paper outside of Victoria,” said Woolworths supermarket director Claire Peters. “Although demand is not at the same level as in Victoria, we are now taking preventive action to overtake excessive shopping this weekend,” she added.
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The company ordered an additional 650,000 packages of toilet paper, by 30% more than usual.
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Coles spokesman said the company limits purchases of toilet paper and paper towels to one packet per person across the country, with restrictions that only apply in the state of Victoria regarding the purchase of hand disinfectants, pasta, eggs, rice and other basic products.
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Despite the surge in infections in Victoria, the prime minister announced that the virus remains under control in Australia and the country will continue its plan to reopen the economy.
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photo-source">Source of main photo: PAP/EPA/JAMES ROSS
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