Coronavirus fears spark panic buying as people clear shelves of hand sanitiser and toilet roll

Some shops have reported customers emptying shelves and ‘panic buying’ as fears over coronavirus grow.

Supermarkets are preparing for widespread bulk buying in the coming weeks, despite efforts from government officials to calm the public.

Do people need to stock up on supplies?

Sir Patrick Vallance, the government’s chief scientific adviser, said: “there is absolutely no reason to be doing any panic buying of any sort, or going out and keeping large supplies of things.”

In some stores, stocks of staple foods like rice and pasta are running low, and people are buying large amounts of beans, bottled water, and pet food.

Customers also seem to be increasingly concerned about preventing the spread of the disease, with hand-sanitiser products running low in some places.

But Vallance did concede that stockpiling might be needed in future, if measures like household quarantines are enforced.

“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 adviser said, “but we imagine that could be a rolling case of household quarantine if that measure becomes necessary, and clearly things will need to be in place for care homes and so on if that decision is made.”

Are stocks running low?

Last week, Boots stores limited bottles of hand sanitiser to two per person, and in Edinburgh, the pharmacy chain had sold out completely.

And they are not the only chain placing restrictions on some items. Tesco and Waitrose have begun limiting the number of “essentials” customers can buy. People can now only buy five items like toilet rolls, bags of pasta, and some tinned foods, at a time in Tesco.

Waitrose have capped the number of hand wipes and sanitisers customers can buy on their website.

Delivery service Ocado told customers that due to a growing number of “particularly large orders”, home delivery slots were selling out more quickly than usual.

Do people need to stock up for self-isolation?

Some people are bulk buying supplies in anticipation of having to self-isolate.

If medical professionals suspect a member of the public may have coronavirus, they could require them to isolate themselves from friends, family and colleagues.