Panic at the Costco: coronavirus, a bogus photo and the contagion of fear behind Vancouver’s supermarket stampede

A much-shared photo said to show panic buying in the Vancouver satellite of Richmond wasn’t even taken in Canada – but fuelled real panic buying in the region
Psychologist Steven Taylor says fears of panic buying can become a ‘self-fulfilling prophecy’ during times of pandemic

Ian Young in Vancouver

Published: 3:31am, 6 Mar, 2020

Updated: 4:15am, 6 Mar, 2020

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Ian Young

Ian Young is the Post's Vancouver correspondent. A journalist for more than 20 years, he worked for Australian newspapers and the London Evening Standard before arriving in Hong Kong in 1997. There he won or shared awards for excellence in investigative reporting and human rights reporting, and the HK News Awards Scoop of the Year. He moved to Canada with his wife in 2010.