The Coronavirus Effect: Australia Runs Out Of Toilet Paper

By Staff, Agencies

The threat of coronavirus inspired a wave of panic buying in Australia, resulting in items including toilet paper disappearing from shelves across the country.

Australians have begun to prepare for disaster at levels previously unseen, even at the height of the country’s recent extreme bushfires and other natural disasters.

The huge demand for toilet paper has seen supermarket supplies dry up in minutes, and in Sydney one chain has implemented a four pack buying limit.

On the internet some people were selling packets of a toilet roll for over a hundred dollars, people have stolen rolls from public lavatories, and fights have reportedly erupted when lorries delivering paper arrived.

Demand for the toilet paper surged after authorities said the number of people known to be infected in Australia has risen to 42, with at least two cases where it is not known how the sufferers were exposed to the virus.

Besides, supermarkets have been emptied of items including canned goods, hand sanitizer and bottled water.

The Australian government described panic buying as unnecessary, and Prime Minister Scott Morrison urged calm.

The World Health Organization [WHO] said rising demand for medical supplies including gloves and masks, resulting in panic buying, hoarding and misuse, “is putting lives at risk from the new coronavirus and other infectious diseases”.

The WHO called on industry and governments to increase manufacturing of essential personal protective equipment by 40 per cent to meet rising global demand.