Coronavirus: toilet paper limits imposed as panic buying returns to Australia

Name: Coronavirus fears spark toilet paper panic buying around the world
Uploaded: 2020-06-26T21:00:10.000Z
Duration: 3 min 58 s
Description: Coronavirus fears spark toilet paper panic buying around the world

Australia’s two biggest supermarket chains said they were reimposing nationwide quotas on purchases of toilet paper to counter a surge in demand

The hoarding was triggered by a spike in coronavirus cases in Melbourne

Reading Time:2 minutes

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A shopper walks past near-empty shelves of toilet paper at a supermarket in Melbourne. Photo: AFP

Agence France-Presse

Published: 5:00am, 27 Jun 2020Updated: 5:56am, 27 Jun 2020

Supermarkets imposed purchase limits on toilet paper across Australia on Friday following panic buying by people rattled over a surge in coronavirus cases in the country’s second-biggest city.

“Stop it, it’s ridiculous,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison told his compatriots after the rush on stores, insisting the Covid-19 outbreak in Melbourne did not threaten the country’s so far successful containment of the epidemic.

Officials reported 30 new coronavirus infections in Melbourne overnight – the 10th straight day of double-digit rises in new cases in the city and surrounding Victoria state, while most other Australian regions have seen no or low single-digit new infections for weeks.

Victorian health workers have launched a major virus testing blitz across 10 Melbourne suburbs accounting for the majority of new cases, while the army was due to deploy around 200 troops this weekend to help with the operation.

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Coronavirus fears spark toilet paper panic buying around the world

While the number of new cases is relatively low compared to soaring tallies elsewhere in the world, the Melbourne outbreak has sparked fears of a second wave of the epidemic as most parts of the country push ahead with relaxing restrictions on business, public gatherings and travel.

Woolworths and Coles, Australia’s two biggest supermarket chains, both said on Friday they were reimposing nationwide quotas on purchases of toilet paper and paper towels to counter a surge in panic buying not seen since the first days of the pandemic in March.

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