Coronavirus panic has swept supermarkets across the country as shoppers desperately attempt to get their hands on toilet paper amid warnings 100,000 Australians could die from the outbreak.
Opportunistic Australians are advertising the sought-after online as supermarket shelves run dry from heightened panic the illness is on track to become a global pandemic.
There have been 38 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Australia, with NSW Health on Tuesday afternoon confirming the two most recent cases are women in their 60s who returned to Sydney from South Korea and Japan.
Research by former Reserve Bank of Australia’s Warwick McKibbin found a global pandemic could wipe out 68-million people worldwide, including 96,000 Australians.
Even a mild pandemic could kill 21,000 Australians and 15-million globally.
‘It’s like the world is coming to an end and I’m the only one who doesn’t know it,’ one shopper wrote alongside a picture of fellow customers lining up at the checkout
A shopper at Coles Broadway, in Sydney’s inner city, shared a picture of the empty toilet paper aisle on Tuesday, writing there was also no pasta or Panadol in stock
Prime Minister Scott Morrison tried to reassure the public that people should go about their business as usual despite the catastrophic threat.
‘I am looking forward to getting to places of mass gathering, particularly if it involves my football team playing, or going to kids’ concerts,’ he said.
The prime minister has also consulted with supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths, with the fallout affecting global supply chains and consumer behaviour.
Mr Morrison said Treasury was working with other government agencies to come up with a plan to boost the economy.
‘It will be a targeted plan. It will be a measured plan. It will be a scalable plan,’ he said.
‘It will be targeted on the real diagnosis of the economic issue we are looking to confront here.’
Pictures shared online showed empty shelves and full trolleys as shoppers packed into the supermarkets in an attempt to get their hands on pasta, tinned food, bottled water, toilet paper and hand sanitiser
People wearing face masks walk by Flinders Street Station in Melbourne
Shoppers declared the ‘end of the world’ on Tuesday as they desperately attempted to buy basic necessities. Pictured: Empty shelves are pictured at a Coles supermarket
Shoppers declared the ‘end of the world’ on Tuesday as they desperately attempted to buy toilet paper and other basic necessities.
Pictures shared online showed empty shelves and full trolleys as shoppers packed into supermarkets in an attempt to get their hands on pasta, tinned food, bottled water, toilet paper and hand sanitiser.
‘It’s like the world is coming to an end and I’m the only one who doesn’t know it,’ one shopper wrote alongside a picture of fellow customers lining up at the checkout.
The caption also included the hashtags ’empty shelves’, ‘huge line ups’, ‘no toilet paper’ and ‘wtf it’s Tuesday night’.
A shopper at Coles Broadway, in Sydney’s inner city, shared a picture of the empty toilet paper aisle on Tuesday, writing there was also no pasta or Panadol in stock.
Another shopper shared images of Costco shoppers taking as many as 200 rolls each from the store in Casula, NSW.
Are you washing your hands WRONG? Guide for removing germs proves thousands of people are not practising good hygiene amid the coronavirus crisis
By Sophie Haslett for Daily Mail Australia
According to Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, washing your hands correctly is one of the best ways to stop yourself and those around you from becoming sick.
The organisation recommends you wash your hands at frequent intervals to stay healthy and follow five steps to wash your hands the right way.
‘The first step is to wet your hands with clean, running water (warm or cold), turn off the tap, and apply soap,’ they said.
A guide to washing your hands is proof that thousands of people aren’t practising good hygiene – you should be rinsing your hands for at least 20 seconds (stock image)
‘Then, lather your hands by rubbing them together with the soap. Lather the backs of your hands, between your fingers, and under your nails.’
The third step is where many people might be falling down.
The CDC recommend you scrub your hands ‘for at least 20 seconds’ or for the amount of time it takes you to hum Happy Birthday twice.
‘Rinse your hands well under clean, running water,’ they said.
Finally, you should use a clean towel to dry your hands or air dry them.
The CDC’s hand washing guide follows WHO’s guidelines – which suggest people wash their hands at least five times a day with soap and water or hand sanitiser (pictured)
When you can’t wash your hands with soap and water, experts said hand sanitiser with 60 per cent alcohol is a good idea.
Sanitisers can quickly reduce the number of germs on hands in many situations.
However, the CDC were quick to point out that hand sanitisers do not get rid of all types of germs, and they may not be as effective when your hands are dirty or greasy.
‘They might not remove harmful chemicals from hands like pesticides and heavy metals,’ their website reads.
The CDC’s hand washing guide follows WHO’s guidelines – which include 11 steps.
‘Scenes from Costco Casula. If they’re not afraid of coronavirus, they’re afraid of a toilet paper shortage,’ the woman captioned the snaps.
Most people who reacted to the photos called the shoppers ‘greedy’ and ‘crazy’, with some calling for a limit on the number of items shoppers can buy.
‘This is getting out of bloody hand. They should be allowing only two items each so that no one misses out (not that it stopped the baby formula debacle),’ one person said.
Another said: ‘Who the f*** needs 200 rolls of toilet paper?’
Numerous advertisements for toilet paper have since popped up on Gumtree and Facebook marketplace amid the fresh panic.
One seller was offering 24 Kleenex rolls for $50, while another posted 32 rolls for the same price.
Numerous advertisements for toilet paper have since popped up on Gumtree and Facebook marketplace amid the fresh panic
One seller was offering 24 Kleenex rolls for $50, while another posted 32 rolls for the same pricetag
But the hysteria has also led to the creation of mockery advertisements, where toilet paper has been priced for hundreds and even thousands of dollars.
A ‘limited edition’ Christmas themed roll has been listed for $52,000 on Facebook, while a single sheet of toilet paper has been advertised for $1,000.
‘One piece of toilet paper. Hurry up before I catch coronavirus and need to use it myself,’ the fake advert says.
A ‘coronavirus survival kit’ advertised for $1million comes with one toilet square, half a can of beans and a face mask.
Kimberly-Clark, the manufacturer behind Kleenex toilet paper, said they had their production lines running 24 hours a day to meet the short-term demand.
The Executive Director of the Australian Retailers Association Russell Zimmerman said there was no need for the panic or for the stockpiling of goods.
The hysteria has also led to the creation of mockery advertisements, where toilet paper has been priced for hundreds and even thousands of dollars
A ‘limited edition’ Christmas themed roll has been listed for $52,000 on Facebook, while a single sheet of toilet paper has been advertised for $1,000
A single sheet of toilet paper has been advertised for $1,000. ‘One piece of toilet paper. Hurry up before I catch coronavirus and need to use it myself,’ the fake advert says
A ‘coronavirus survival kit’ advertised for $1million comes with one toilet square, half a can of beans and a face mask
‘We urge Australian consumers to go about their business as per usual at present,’ Mr Zimmerman said in a statement on Tuesday.
‘Australia is perhaps best placed to deal with the COVID-19 outbreak; with advantages of distance, emergency management protocols being rolled out by the federal government, and a very small number of cases in this country, there is absolutely no need to panic or to engage in the emergency stockpiling of consumer goods.
‘We’re comfortable there’s no risk to the availability of food or household essentials; with major retailers maintaining high inventories, if a brand you wish to purchase isn’t available today, it’ll probably be back on the shelf tomorrow.’
Mr Morrison said aged care facilities could be put in ‘lock down’ if the coronavirus continues to spread across the country due to the vulnerability of the elderly population.
‘We are able to lock down aged care facilities, if we need to,’ Mr Morrison told A Current Affair.
‘Here in Australia we have got ahead of it early, and we are staying ahead of it.’
Woolworth staff members unpack fresh delivery of toilet paper as shelves run dry
Shoppers pose with the empty shelves of a toilet paper section in a Coles supermarket
The government are also considering extending travel bans to South Korea and Italy, where coronavirus outbreaks have taken hold.
‘I would note that those cases are quite different to some of the others because we are dealing with more advanced health systems in those places,’ Mr Morrison said in Canberra on Tuesday.
‘We will continue to look to the health advice, which has not been – up until this point – to make any changes to those arrangements.’
NSW Health on Tuesday afternoon said the two most recent cases are women in their 60s who returned to Sydney from South Korea and Japan.
The NSW premier earlier on Tuesday announced two new cases: a 39-year-old man who arrived in Sydney from Iran on February 28, and a 53-year-old man who had returned to Sydney from Singapore on February 28.
‘Reflecting what is happening worldwide, and obviously an increasing number of people are being diagnosed with the coronavirus, what we are now seeing in Sydney, in NSW is reflective of that situation,’ NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison tried to reassure the public that people should go about their business as usual despite the catastrophic threat. ‘I am looking forward to getting to places of mass gathering, particularly if it involves my football team playing, or going to kids’ concerts,’ he said
Australian evacuees who were quarantined on Christmas Island over concerns about the COVID-19 coronavirus arrive at Sydney Airport in Sydney, Monday, February 17
‘We are seeing quite an escalation of diagnosis of the virus.’
Earlier on Tuesday, a 20-year-old university student from China became the 34th case of coronavirus in Australia.
The young man, who is understood to have spent 14 days ‘self-quarantined’ in Dubai, flew into Brisbane on February 23.
The student marks the 10th case of the killer respiratory disease in Queensland.
It comes amid fears Chinese students are exploiting loopholes in the China travel ban, spending two weeks in other countries before arriving in Australia.
A senior Queensland Health source told The Australian it’s believed the 20-year-old was infected during his layover.
Despite being advised to keep to themselves in quarantine, social media posts reportedly show the students bound for Australia socialising and dining at restaurants.
The Executive Director of the Australian Retailers Association, Russell Zimmerman said there was no need to panic or stockpile goods
Man eager to avoid catching coronavirus wears a FULL-BODY plastic suit and mask at the supermarket
A shopper has been mocked on social media after taking bizarre measures to protect themselves against the deadly coronavirus for a trip to the shops.
Sporting a full-body white plastic suit and mask to cover their face, the shopper stunned locals with their bizarre attire while shopping for groceries and using the self-serve checkouts at two supermarkets in Wanganui, New Zealand.
A photo posted of the man to Facebook sparked discussion about his over-the-top outfit.
‘Could anyone be more prepared?’ the photo was captioned.
The cautious shopper (pictured) was missing gloves during his trip to the shops
People soon pointed out the person wasn’t fully protected against the deadly virus with one vital piece of attire missing, as he wasn’t wearing gloves.
‘At first I thought maybe he was some sort of cleaning worker but then I saw him with his trolley bag and realised that probably wasn’t the case,’ local Carrie Sutton told the New Zealand Herald. ‘I had to laugh though, as they had no gloves on.’
Others defended the cautious local’s actions and praised their commitment.
‘He might have been overseas to a country affected and is just taking precautions’, one commented.
Another added: ‘Better to be safe than sorry.’
Health authorities are also advising passengers who sat near a coronavirus-infected woman on a Dubai-to-Sydney flight to immediately isolate themselves at home.
The woman in her 50s flew into Australia from Iran on February 23 aboard Qatar Airways flight 908 from.
She developed symptoms of COVID-19 the next day and was tested on Saturday after attending a hospital emergency department.
NSW Health on Tuesday said the airline had passed on the infected passenger’s seat details as well as the names of those sitting nearby.
The health authority is now urging adjacent passengers – seated two rows in front and behind seat 43H – to self-isolate and contact their local GP or public health unit.
NSW authorities on Monday evening confirmed the first cases of locally-acquired coronavirus.
James Kwan (pictured), 78, was quarantined on the Diamond Princess Cruise ship and died on Sunday
Mr Kwan, who was the first Australian to die of coronavirus, is seen getting off the plane in Perth after he was transferred from Darwin on February 21
Mr Kwan boarded the doomed cruise liner Diamond Princess in Perth with his wife Iris, who also contracted the virus
A 53-year-old male doctor is in a stable condition at Westmead Hospital and ‘going quite well’, Mr Hazzard told the Nine Network on Tuesday.
The minister said it still wasn’t clear if the man had infected others after becoming contagious.
Authorities are busy talking to various people he may have had contact with.
‘We are making sure we get in contact with them and make sure they don’t have symptoms,’ Mr Hazzard said. ‘It’s a bit of a worry.’
The other locally-acquired case in Sydney is a 41-year-old sister of an infected man who recently returned from Iran where the virus is rampant.
Fifteen cases have been linked to China, who have all cleared the virus, and 10 people became infected after travelling on the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan before being evacuated to Australia.
Travellers are pictured wearing protective face masks at Brisbane International Airport on January 29 (pictured)
Of the 10 aboard the ship, six have now cleared the virus and have been allowed to go home.
One of the 10 was James Kwan, 78, the first Australian to die from the virus. His wife is also infected and she remains in hospital.
Travel bans remain in place for foreign nationals arriving from Iran and China but the government has indicated further travel bans are unlikely to have any effect on the spread of the disease.
Globally there have been more than 88,500 infections and more than 3000 deaths spanning 67 countries and regions.