The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Spreading virus prompts stockpiling
COVID-19 has created nervous hoarders who are loading up on canned goods, frozen dinners and toilet paper.
NEW YORK » As an Arizonan, Gregory Cohen has never had to stock up ahead of a hurricane or other natural disaster.
But fear of the new coronavirus has led the 51-year-old attorney to run up a hefty bill at the local grocery store last week on emergency supplies. That included 12 cans of diced tomatoes, 12 cans of chili beans, soap and six boxes of pasta that he says should last him and his family four weeks.
“My biggest concern is that we will all be asked to stay at home,” said Cohen, who stored the supplies in tubs in his garage for his wife and teenage son. “This is my way of exerting control of the uncertainty of the current situation.”
COVID-19, the disease that has sickened more than 100,000 people worldwide and killed more than 3,400 people, has created legions of nervous hoarders who are loading up on canned goods, frozen dinners, toilet paper, and cleaning products. Many like Cohen want to be prepared as they hear warnings about quarantines and watch a growing number of companies like Twitter, Microsoft and Amazon ask their employees to work from home.
Such stockpiling is expected to last for weeks, resulting in a boon for discounters and grocery stores as well as food delivery services that is also introducing logistical headaches at the same time. Costco Wholesale Corp.’s Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti described the buying frenzy as “off the charts” throughout the U.S. in a call with investors this week. Some like Kroger Co. are now placing limits on certain items such as cold and flurelated products to five each per order.
Target and Walmart say they are talking to suppliers to replenish bare shelves, but didn’t say how long that could take. And New Jersey-based Campbell Soup Co. said it’s stepping up production because of increased orders from grocery stores and other retailers as demand started growing this week.
Instacart reports a surge in demand for pantry items such as powdered milk and canned goods, as well as personal care products like hand sanitizer and vitamins. Sales are up tenfold across the country but business is particularly heavy in California, Washington, Oregon and New York, where sales are up twentyfold over the past week, the company said.
Meanwhile, sales of hand sanitizers in the U.S. more than doubled in the four weeks ending Feb. 29 compared to the same period a year ago, according to market research firm Nielsen, while sales of thermometers spiked 52.3% during that same period. Sales of dried beans spiked nearly 18%.
Online purchases of toilet paper have nearly doubled and nonperishable items like canned goods rose nearly 70% during the January and February period, according to Adobe Analytics.
Australian Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy, who is leading Australia’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak, on Thursday urged against stockpiling of toilet paper.
“There is no reason to denude the shelves of lavatory paper in the supermarkets,” Murphy said in a national televised press conference. “We should continue our normal activity.”
Italians engaged in panic buying in the first two days after officials in Lombardy and Veneto started to expand protective measures on Feb. 23 — closing schools, theaters and museums — but it subsided quickly after an initial spurt.