Psychologists say the frenzy is a way for shoppers to feel in control
A customer walks past empty toilet paper shelves at a supermarket in Sydney, Australia, on Wednesday March 4 2020. Picture: BLOOMBERG/BRENDON THORNEShelves are being stripped bare of toilet rolls, hand sanitiser and surgical masks everywhere from Japan to France to the US as panic-buying criss-crosses the globe with the coronavirus, defying repeated calls for calm and disrupting supply chains.
On Saturday Japan’s prime minister took to Twitter to calm fears of a national shortage, while social media photos from the US show toilet paper shelves lying bare.“We might be less irrational if we weren’t being reminded so much of the potential dangers by the news,” London-based consumer psychologist Kate Nightingale said.
As the uncertainty grows, they said, items such as surgical masks and hand sanitiser transform into “problem-solving goods ... that seemingly help people gain control over the virus”.Single-use surgical masks that typically retail for just a few US cents are also hot property, exacerbated by restrictions on exports from China, the leading producer, as the government keeps more back for domestic usage.
The demand is being “driven by panic-buying, stockpiling and speculation”, World Health Organisation spokesperson Fadela Chaib said. “In times of uncertainty, it is good to set rules because rules provide a sense of order and control.”
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Panic buying follows coronavirus across the globehelves are being stripped bare of toilet rolls, hand sanitiser and surgical masks as panic buying criss-crosses the globe.
Read more »
LOOK: Australians in a tizz after precious cargo catches fireA delivery truck carrying toilet paper has burst into flames in the Australian city of Brisbane, ratcheting up a sense of panic about the availability of the product generated by the coronavirus outbreak.
Read more »
Japan coronavirus cases hit 1,000 mark as Tokyo insists Olympics on trackThirty-six new infections underlined the virus's spread across the country and raised questions about whether the Olympic Games, due to start in late July, can go ahead.
Read more »
290m students out of school as global virus battle intensifiesAlmost 300 million students worldwide faced weeks at home on Thursday with Italy the latest country to shut schools over the deadly new coronavirus, as the IMF urged an all-out global offensive against the epidemic.
Read more »
Recession highlights urgent need for reforms, says RamaphosaUS Federal Reserve cuts interest rates as spread of coronavirus dims global outlook, in yet more bad news for struggling SA
Read more »
290m students out of school as global virus battle intensifiesAlmost 300 million students worldwide faced weeks at home on Thursday with Italy the latest country to shut schools over the deadly new coronavirus, as the IMF urged an all-out global offensive against the epidemic.
Read more »