Australian man tasered in toilet paper tussle amid Covid-19 concerns

SYDNEY: A fight over toilet roll ended with a man being tasered, Australian police said yesterday, as coronavirus concerns drive panic buying.

Police were called to a store in the New South Wales town of Tamworth, about four hours drive north of Sydney, after the man allegedly lashed out and attacked another customer and a worker.

Over 50 people have been confirmed to have the virus in Australia so far with the latest cases including an eight-month-old baby in Adelaide.

Coronavirus fears have triggered runs on several products, including hand sanitisers and face masks, with images of shoppers stacking trolleys with toilet rolls spreading on social media.

A fiery truck crash in Brisbane on Wednesday night further fuelled concerns after it was revealed it was carrying loo roll.

The truck caught fire after its engine exploded in the suburbs of Australia’s third-largest city, said police and firefighting services.

The driver escaped without injury and the cargo, including toilet paper, was also largely unaffected.

Nevertheless, the fire grabbed headlines and added to growing worry about the availability of toilet paper, which Australia’s chief medical officer, Brendan Murphy, tried again to ease yesterday.

“There is no reason to denude the shelves of lavatory paper in the supermarkets,” Murphy told a news conference in Canberra.

Some media have taken the opportunity to poke fun at the toilet paper panic.

The NT News, a newspaper known for its tongue-in-cheek antics, published eight blank pages in the middle of yesterday’s edition saying it was giving readers what they needed.

“Run out of loo paper? The NT News cares. For you to use in an emergency”, the Northern Territory newspaper, owned by News Corp, said on its front page.

Supermarkets and manufacturers urged calm, reassuring customers that deliveries were increasing to compensate for the demand. – Agencies