Don’t panic! Shoppers clear stores
Essentials vanish as advice is ignored
SHOPPERS are ignoring ‘Don’t Panic’ advice and clearing shelves of essentials – from hand sanitisers to toilet rolls, pasta and rice.
Government advisers say there is no need to stockpile and people will be able to rely on the kindness of others if they fall sick.
However, it seems many people have not been convinced by such reassurances, while some experts have even warned of potential food riots.
Sales of antibacterial gel and wipes are up 255 per cent with some stores running out and others introducing rationing. Retailers have also seen a rise of 10 per cent in sales of disinfectants and 7 per cent for liquid soap.
Facebook and Twitter are littered with photographs of empty shelves and shoppers appear to have thrown empty boxes into the aisles.
Shortages seem to have spread to cupboard items such as rice, pasta, couscous, Pot Noodles, bottled water, toilet rolls and pet food.
The rush to the shops and a surge in online grocery orders comes as concerned families fear they may have to put themselves into a form of ‘home quarantine’. But the scramble, mirrored around the world, is at odds with the advice of the Government’s Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance.
Standing alongside Boris Johnson yesterday, he said: ‘I think the advice is that there is absolutely no reason to be doing any panic buying of any sort or going out and keeping large supplies of things. Clearly there will need to be measures in cases of household quarantine for making sure food is in the right place at the right time.’
The Chief Medical Officer for England, Professor Chris Whitty, went further, suggesting the sick could safely rely on the kindness of others to make sure they had everything they need.
He said behavioural science evidence showed that the ‘response of the British public to disasters and emergencies is extraordinary outbreaks of altruism’.
In contrast, Tim Lang, professor of food policy at City University, London, and author of a book called Feeding Britain, said: ‘Stockpiling is an understandable response after weeks of growing concern about coronavirus.
‘What has perplexed me is that the Government has been so slow to learn how fragile UK food systems are. Stockpiling at home ought to be the last line of food defence, not the only line.’
Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at analysts Kantar, said shoppers are heeding the hygiene advice. He said: ‘Given the media focus around the outbreak of Covid-19 in February, it’s unsurprising to see shoppers prudently protecting themselves from illness.’
Boots and some other stores are limiting customers to buying a maximum of two bottles of hand sanitisers each.
Industry experts said UK supermarkets have contingency plans to ensure food remains on shelves.
However, senior food industry analyst Bruno Monteyne, of stockbrokers Bernstein, who is a former Tesco executive, made the shocking claim earlier this week that any major outbreak ‘ will quickly lead to panic buying, empty shelves and food riots’.
But he stressed: ‘The industry has ready-made plans to deal with that: plans are surely being drawn up with suppliers to rationalise product ranges and transition to a “feed the nation” status when necessary.’ He added: ‘The objective isn’t to scaremonger. On the contrary, the industry has plans to deal with this.’
Meanwhile the British Retail Consortium insists that there is ‘no evidence’ to justify claims of chaos and food riots. Its director of food and sustainability, Andrew Opie, said: ‘Disruption to supply chains has been limited, and the availability of products remains good.’