Scrambles to shops, empty shelves add panic and confusion from Japan to the US. FMTNews Covid19
Psychologists say a mix of herd mentality and over-exposure to coverage of the virus is to blame.
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. 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.
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. But in crowded, paranoid cities where others are already wearing them, donning a mask can be comforting – if ineffective.“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.”As more countries report new cases, Yap and Chen said it was important for authorities to “re-establish control” over information and rumours that spark hoarding and panic-buying.
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