OT: Panic Buying. When Will it End?

[NinjaBro]

I'm just curious how it's like in your area. Here in Vancouver we recently got a province wide ban on social gathering to less than 50 people. Of course this doesn't apply to grocery stores where there were hundreds lined up around the store hoarding everything they can find.

Went to do my usual weekly grocery shopping trip today and every single grocer was packed, lines around the store. Went to 7 different stores before finally giving up. I want to do my part on social distancing but apparently humanity don't care if it means standing in lines for an hour to pick up that last pack of toilet paper.

Couldn't find any toilet paper, napkins, soups, milk, bread, eggs on the shelf. Every where I went it was completely sold out. People packed like sardines in the store. So much for social distancing lol.

Fruits and vegetables are still good. I'm wondering when this will stop and life get back to normal. Our BC government has said that we don't have a shortage of goods and that people conjugating in large groups to hoard supplies is self defeating because you would run a bigger risk of picking up the virus or spreading it to others.
I live alone so I don't need much but I would like to pick up some essential supplies like maybe milk or eggs or even a pack of toilet paper. Just wanted to pick up a few things but didn't want to be surrounded by hundreds of people and stand in line for an hour. Not to mention the shelves were empty.

This is starting to feel like the apocalypse. I've never seen anything like this. I was in Toronto during SARS when I was younger but it was never like this.

[Lord_Zedd]

Whenever the media stops portraying the panic buying.

For everything that's happening in Italy, food shortages isn't one of them.

[Lord Eder]

Whenever the media stops portraying the panic buying.

For everything that's happening in Italy, food shortages isn't one of them.

It was in the begining

Read on Twitter

[NinjaBro]

Whenever the media stops portraying the panic buying.

For everything that's happening in Italy, food shortages isn't one of them.

It was in the begining

Read on Twitter

That's how the shelves look like in some of the stores I went to. When people see the empty shelves, panic kicks in and they hoard up everything else. Seems like Vancouver is a bit slow to take this pandemic seriously compared to the rest of the world and now people are in panic mode.

[Lord Eder]

Whenever the media stops portraying the panic buying.

For everything that's happening in Italy, food shortages isn't one of them.

It was in the begining

Read on Twitter

That's how the shelves look like in some of the stores I went to. When people see the empty shelves, panic kicks in and they hoard up everything else. Seems like Vancouver is a bit slow to take this pandemic seriously compared to the rest of the world and now people are in panic mode.

The problem was that they downplayed this **** in order to reduce the risk of panic... all they ended up doing was creating a powder keg of panic. Had they told the public what was likely to happen a month ago, people could’ve prepared accordingly. Instead of this shock to everyone the last few days.

[seanbig]

People in Vancouver don’t get it

No one here is practicing social distancing

Shutting the borders doesn’t do anything

It’s 96hr turnaround for the test and some ok patients are being sent home to quarantine without even being tested because there are not enough tests

We cannot **** down the country like China but somehow we think this virus will act differently cuz it’s no longer a China virus or Italian virus or a New York virus

Wake up...it’s the SARS 2 virus and every freaking country
That has dealt with it so far has had to take extreme measures

[NUCKER101]

Whenever the media stops portraying the panic buying.

For everything that's happening in Italy, food shortages isn't one of them.

It was in the begining

Read on Twitter

That's how the shelves look like in some of the stores I went to. When people see the empty shelves, panic kicks in and they hoard up everything else. Seems like Vancouver is a bit slow to take this pandemic seriously compared to the rest of the world and now people are in panic mode.

Yeah I live in Coquitlam and it’s insane. The funny part is that last week I went late at night like an hour to avoid the crowds and was able to comfortably buy a month’s worth of groceries and toilet paper(Canadian Tire and Staples both had stock lol, and Costco had plenty of food and drink items).

I think the opportunists flipping toilet paper and sanitizer for profit are a huge part of the problem.

[Lord_Zedd]

Everyone seems to be rushing the usual Loblaws, Walmart, Costco, but lowkey Staples (at least near me in Brampton) had some sanitizers/disinfectant wipes, and Chinese grocery places like TnT had plenty of food/items stock.

[NUCKER101]

Everyone seems to be rushing the usual Loblaws, Walmart, Costco, but lowkey Staples (at least near me in Brampton) had some sanitizers/disinfectant wipes, and Chinese grocery places like TnT had plenty of food/items stock.

Yeah, Staples and Canadian Tire have been clutch. But even that secret’s out of the bag now.

[NinjaBro]

It was in the begining

Read on Twitter

That's how the shelves look like in some of the stores I went to. When people see the empty shelves, panic kicks in and they hoard up everything else. Seems like Vancouver is a bit slow to take this pandemic seriously compared to the rest of the world and now people are in panic mode.

Yeah I live in Coquitlam and it’s insane. The funny part is that last week I went late at night like an hour to avoid the crowds and was able to comfortably buy a month’s worth of groceries and toilet paper(Canadian Tire and Staples both had stock lol, and Costco had plenty of food and drink items).

Yeah last week I was doing my shopping and things weren't that bad. I usually just pick up a few things like fruits and vegetables. It seems like ever since Trudeau's wife picked up the virus people started to panic. Now the lineups are crazy.

[Westside Gunn]

we've been through sars, swine flu in 2009 and now this. the difference now is we have social media. everyones hunched into their phones, dazed into the world of endless scrolling, which is only filled with hysteria and panic. that panic combined with our previous consumption of endless tv shows makes us run to the grocery store and hoard everything.

eggs, milk, bread, pasta, tomatoes, soups, canned goods, all gone everywhere i go. i luckily prepped for this at the end of feb with the US and Canadas open ass borders. most countries have displayed incompetent leadership with this, and their populace will always be stupid and selfish.

your best bet is to be creative with sanitizers and toilet paper. for sanitizing you gotta have a portable method of quickly washing hands with liquid soap. for toilet paper, order a bidet from amazon. the rest of the planet is laughing at us for fighting over tissue paper and not food.

or go to distant stores away from the city, but chances are hoarding happened there too.

[HiJiNX]

I went Sunday morning in Toronto at 8am and it was fine...except for toilet paper lol. But there were zero lineups and any food you wanted.

[Uncle Dennis]

A lot of selfish people hoarding supplies that are important for the elderly and other high risk people.

[Westside Gunn]

I went Sunday morning in Toronto at 8am and it was fine...except for toilet paper lol. But there were zero lineups and any food you wanted.

a mississauga costco had a lineup around the building before opening time lol.

[Salted Meat]

It all started with Australia. American news outlets saw people with shopping carts filled with toilet paper, and ran with it because it looks like a big deal, but failed to mention it's because they import most of their TP and shortages are not uncommon, nor did they remind people here not to worry and that toilet paper is in plentiful supply. this led to a whole bunch of subsequent cleaning product hoarding, and of course, "entrepreneurial" citizens using the opportunity to buy huge amounts of product and resell them at an inflated price.

By the way, if you need sterilized or disinfected napkins, go to the feminine hygiene aisle. Those wipes, which are the exact same as every other disposable wipe, is in full supply. Branding matters.

[SaveTheHens]

It wasn't too bad when I went today, mostly just out of packaged bottled water & for some reason clementines were cleared out too lol. I think it'll get worse if it picks up in my city, which seems likely. Good luck everyone, stay safe

[gojoorange]

Everyone seems to be rushing the usual Loblaws, Walmart, Costco, but lowkey Staples (at least near me in Brampton) had some sanitizers/disinfectant wipes, and Chinese grocery places like TnT had plenty of food/items stock.

Good call. I’ve been hitting the small markets and delis and they have plenty of stock.

[seanbig]

we've been through sars, swine flu in 2009 and now this. the difference now is we have social media. everyones hunched into their phones, dazed into the world of endless scrolling, which is only filled with hysteria and panic. that panic combined with our previous consumption of endless tv shows makes us run to the grocery store and hoard everything.

eggs, milk, bread, pasta, tomatoes, soups, canned goods, all gone everywhere i go. i luckily prepped for this at the end of feb with the US and Canadas open ass borders. most countries have displayed incompetent leadership with this, and their populace will always be stupid and selfish.

your best bet is to be creative with sanitizers and toilet paper. for sanitizing you gotta have a portable method of quickly washing hands with liquid soap. for toilet paper, order a bidet from amazon. the rest of the planet is laughing at us for fighting over tissue paper and not food.

or go to distant stores away from the city, but chances are hoarding happened there too.

No...you need to play the game plague.inc

A good plague is one that does not have a lot of symptoms, doesn't raise a lot of alarm bells

SARS,MERS even swine flu had a high mortality so those that have it die quickly (before spreading the disease) or have symptoms.

this one, I suspect can spread even when people are asymptomatic, which explains why there are "clusters" spreading like wildfire

I'm not worried about the panic buying. the groceries stories will still be open. I'm worried that when the sh*t hits the fan, when you get enough pt sick 5-10% of those will be sick, in the ICU and they will start to infect my colleagues and other staff. In italy 12% of health care providers got it

[C_Money]

So many mindless brain dead people out there. Stocking up on toilet paper because everyone else is doing it.

[JN]

I live in a small Ontario City, and just go to a Food Basics nearby .... I have been maybe 3 times the last 2 weeks and there are zero issues. No lineups at all.... when I get to the cash usually behind one or two people at most.

And plenty of stock - TP, disinfectant, water. I don't doubt there are serious issues in some places but it is not everywhere.