Warehouse limits purchases

The Warehouse has announced it will limit the sale of some items in the face of coronavirus fears.

In an email to customers, the company said there would be limits on key items from this week.

The products that currently have limits on them are toilet paper, hand sanitiser, hand soap and face masks, with a limit of five per customer.

The company had also instituted new cleaning measures to ensure stores were safe for both customers and staff, the announcement said.

The Warehouse sales restrictions follows other retailers who have faced increased demand for hand sanitiser, face masks and toilet paper.

Panic buying has been an issue across New Zealand as shoppers reacted to the first local cases of the coronavirus at the end of February.

Foodstuffs, which covers Pak ‘n Save, New World and Four Square and Countdown, called for calm as customers stockpiled on toilet paper and cleaning products, placing pressure on supply and leaving shelves bare.

A spokeswoman for Foodstuffs said the Auckland supermarkets were the hardest hit in the shopping chaos.

There has also been a rush on Paracetamol as a global shortage looms.

The restrictions, announced on March 6, came after India, the world’s biggest supplier of generic drugs, placed restrictions on the export of 26 products and medicines. The limits applied to Government-funded drugs and not medicines sold over the counter. New Zealand has had five confirmed cases of Covid-19. Yesterday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern did not rule out travel restrictions from any country with Covid-19 cases, with decisions expected in the next 48 hours.

But banning flights was not so simple, as medicines were transported into New Zealand on passenger planes, she said.