Shelves stripped bare as Australia braces for months of coronavirus chaos

Paranoid Australians have stripped supermarket shelves bare as they fear the country will be forced into coronavirus lockdown.

Few staple goods have escaped the buying frenzy at any shops but the big two retailers Coles and Woolworths appear to be hit the hardest.

Huge lines were seen at supermarkets all over the nation on Sunday as people stocked up amid worsening predictions from government and health officials.

Dozens of shoppers at a Melbourne supermarket even pushed and shoved each other to get at a few remaining toilet paper rolls.

Footage showed a huge scrum with customers screaming at each other and ripping packets from one another’s arms, while staff pointlessly told them ‘one per person’. 

Dozens of shoppers at a Melbourne supermarket even pushed and shoved each other to get at a few remaining toilet paper rolls

Paranoid Australians have stripped supermarket shelves bare as they fear the country will be forced into coronavirus lockdown. Pasta is all gone at Coles in Waterloo

A woman loads up two Coles bags while wearing a mask in Waterloo, Sydney, on Sunday

Fresh fruit and vegetables are largely unaffected as they don’t last long

Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Friday banned non-essential gatherings of more than 500 people and on Sunday advised people to stay 1.5m apart.

Daily Mail Australia pandemic shopping list

Toilet paper, paper towels, tissues

Hand sanitiser, liquid soap

Wipes and other cleaning supplies

Long-life milk

Rice, pasta, pasta sauce, mince

Tampons

Pet food

Frozen food

Daily Mail Australia visited several supermarkets on Sunday to see what grocery items were being swept off the shelves, and what was left.

Toilet paper and hand sanitiser have been in short supply for weeks thanks to panic buying, but now even more goods are scarce.

Disinfectants, antibacterial wipes, and various another germ-fighting products were all but gone – despite COVID-19 being a virus not a bacteria.

Tampons supplies are starting to run low, depending on the brand, though painkillers like Panadol are dented but still readily available.

However, pharmacies like Chemist Warehouse are swamped with dozens of people trying to stock up on prescription pills.

This is particularly dire in Victoria after advice by the state’s chief medical officer Brett Sutton caused a huge run on chemists.

‘You don’t need too much, just a two-week supply of food and a 60-day supply of prescription medication,’ he said. 

A dismayed pensioner looks at what little is available in the toilet paper and paper towel aisle of the Chatswood Aldi on Sunday

Huge lines were seen at supermarkets all over the nation on Sunday as people stocked up amid worsening predictions from government and health officials (Woolworths in Ashfield pictured)

Woolworths in Ashfield has no toilet paper or paper towels at all. Staff are protecting what little stock they have (left)

Staff handed out eight-roll packs to each customer who asked from a pallet they guarded, to enforce the one pack each limit

The frozen food section of the Chatswood Aldi had freezers that were completely empty

The situation was little better at Woolworths in Ashfield where the frozen vegetable section was almost completely wiped out

Coles in Surry Hills has no long life milk at all but some brands of skim and other related products were still in stock

Toilet paper is all gone except for a few dozen rolls of a home brand marketed as ‘toilet tissue’

Much of Coles Surry Hills’ canned vegetable section was obliterated by panicked shoppers

However, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme only allows pharmacists to dispense a 30-day supply at once, leading to clashes at stores.

Panic-buying of toilet paper continues unabated thanks to social media hysteria, despite being one of the least useful things to stock up on.

Staff at some stores are guarding pallets of it and handing out one pack to each shopper who asks to make sure the one-each limit is enforced.

Woolworths Eastgardens in Sydney’s eastern suburbs has given up on restocking the toilet paper aisle entirely and is using it to hold Easter eggs.

Supplies of staple foods like rice, pasta, and flour are desperately short at many supermarkets as they are long lasting and can be made into many meals.

Many kinds of frozen food are also starting run out with some sections entirely bare as shoppers know they can heat it up at any time.

Canned food is doing better, though in at least one Coles canned vegetables were almost completely gone.

Is there anything left in stock? 

Daily Mail Australia visited several supermarkets on Sunday to see what grocery items were being swept off the shelves, and what was left.

Coles in Redfern/Surry Hills

Absolutely no toilet paper, antibacterial wipes, hand sanitiser, flour, and pasta. Almost no rice and canned beans, and minimal tissues, noodles, coconut milk, and long life milk.

Pasta and medicine were noticeably depleted. There was plenty of mince but other stores are reportedly all out and have a two-tray limit. 

Flour, rice, and hand sanitiser are limited to two packs.

There was no mine at all at the Surry Hills Coles as shoppers stocked up to freeze it and eat in meals later

Woolworths in Ashfield

Flour, hand sanitiser, liquid soap and other cleaners were all gone.

Many frozen foods were gone and others have severely depleted stocks, tampons were just as bad but it depended on the brand.

Rice almost gone, only a few packets of pasta left, long life milk some brands gone others have half their stock.

Oats and bran hit hard with some brands out of stock, some meat shelves are empty and mince is completely gone.

Pasta is limited to two per person.

Woolworths Eastgardens in Sydney’s eastern suburbs has given up on restocking the toilet paper aisle entirely and is using it to hold Easter eggs

A shopper loads up on Easter eggs as there is no shortage of those

IGA in Newtown

Paper towel shelves are empty though there were a few boxes on the floor with stocks limited to two packs per shopper.

Toilet paper is all gone except for a few dozen rolls of a home brand marketed as ‘toilet tissue’. Mince shelf was completely empty.

Hand sanitiser and liquid soap had just a few bottles left on the whole stack of shelves

Some flour brands were sold out but other still had quite a few bags left.

Stocks of painkillers and other medicine were depleted but had plenty left, as was the same with the rice and long-life milk shelves.

There was enough pasta left for one brand of penne to be on special.

The Newtown IGA was severely lacking in hand sanitiser and all kinds of liquid soap

Aldi in Chatswood

No tissues, toilet paper, and paper towel left.

Long-life milk has plenty of some brands left but one or little of others. The tampon situation was similar with some brands all gone.

Some frozen food freezers were entirely empty while others still had a reasonable amount of stock.

Pasta was almost entirely out of stock and some pasta sauce brands were gone and others hit hard depending on their popularity.

Liquid soap was all gone with body wash supplies running low.

While Coles and Woolworths banned panic shoppers with buyer’s remorse from returning their goods, Aldi welcomes them with open arms

The relative availability of canned goods is likely because there are so many kinds to choose from that there’s enough to go around.

Meat stocks are for most items plentiful for the same reason, but mince – which can be easily frozen and used in anything – is being raided.

Some supermarkets foresaw this and ordered in bulk, but others have none left and are desperately limiting customers to one or two trays each.

Australians are also worried about their furry friends during potential lockdowns as supplies of some pet foods are starting to run low.

Pharmacies like Chemist Warehouse (pictured in Sydney) are swamped with dozens of people trying to stock up on prescription pills

The Surry Hills Coles has essentially no stock of hand sanitiser, liquid soap, and various washes and antibacterial cleaners

Surry Hills Coles has just a few packets of pasta looking lonely in its devastated aisle

Coles in Surry Hills is no only out of pasta but many favourite pasta sauce brands are gone while others are running low

Australians are also worried about their furry friends during potential lockdowns as supplies of some pet foods are starting to run low

Newtown IGA had a reasonable amount of meat left – but absolutely no mince to speak of

The Ashfield Woolworths meat aisle had huge gaps where some kinds of meat were snapped up by midday

Just as with Coles, this Woolworths in Ashfield had almost no liquid soap, hand sanitiser, and related products left on its shelves

If you want rice from the Coles in Surry Hills you are limited to a few sacks of jasmine rice, the rest is all gone

First shoppers came for the rice, then they attacked the instant noodles section

Tuna, despite being canned and long-lasting, seems unaffected by panic buying to the point where some shops have it on discount shelves.

Fresh fruit and vegetables are largely unaffected as they don’t last long, but at least one store ran out of onions which can last weeks.

Australians are fearing extreme measures like in Italy where authorities have all but banned people from the streets and shut most businesses.

France and Spain implemented similar measures on Sunday and other European nations have forced pubs and restaurants to close.

However, even in Italy people are still able to go shopping for groceries, though the number of people in store at a time is restricted. 

Coles and Woolworths bore the brunt of the assault, leaving this IGA in Newtown with enough pasta on shelves it put this brand of penne on special

Tuna was also not lacking in any of the shops Daily Mail Australia visited – IGA even put this brand on special

In contrast to IGA and Woolworths, this Coles store in Surry Hills foresaw the mince shortage and ordered in bulk. However, other stores were almost out and had a two tray limit

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Outrageous moment an out-of-control fight breaks out in the aisle of a Woolworths supermarket amid coronavirus panic-buying

A brawl has broken out between supermarket shoppers as customers continue to panic-buy amid the coronavirus pandemic. 

Shocked onlookers filmed the confrontation between the two men at the Woolworths store in Bass Hill, Sydney, on Sunday. 

The footage show one of the men being led out of the busy store before he quickly turned back and ran towards the other customer.

Many people could be heard screaming and yelling amid the chaos. 

Staff and other shoppers intervened and attempted to separate the pair. 

‘He hit my dad, I’m going f***ing kill him,’ one of the men can be heard shouting. 

The footage show one of the men being led out of the busy store before he quickly turned back and ran towards the other customer

CORONAVIRUS CASES IN AUSTRALIA: 298

New South Wales: 134

Victoria: 57

Queensland: 61

South Australia: 20

Western Australia: 18

Tasmania: 6

Northern Territory: 1 

Australian Capital Territory: 1 

TOTAL CASES:  298

DEAD: 5  

The chaotic scenes come as Australians continue to flood supermarkets and strip the shelves of essential items such as rice, pasta and toilet paper.

Supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths were forced to introduce a one-pack limit on toilet paper due to shortages.

Both supermarkets have now introduced buying limits for basic food items.

Last week three women were involved fist fight over toilet paper at another Sydney supermarket.

Hysterical screaming broke out as the trio battled in the aisles, with the incident seemingly stemming from a mother and daughter stockpiling toilet paper. 

The panic comes as the coronavirus pandemic threatens to grind the world to a halt.

The woman were filmed brawling in a Woolworths supermarket in Sydney as they tried to buy toilet paper (pictured)

Australia announced all international arrivals will have to self-isolate or 14 days when they arrive into the country in bid to stop the spread of the illness.

Scott Morrison also announced cruise ships will be banned from docking in Australian ports for at least 30 days.

The drastic measures come as the number of confirmed cases in Australia climbs to more than 230. Three people have died from the illness.

Globally, the infection has spread to more than 150,000 people across 112 countries, and killed at least 5,500 people.

Stores across the country have been cleaned out of toilet paper in the last week 

Woolworths, Coles, and Aldi imposed one packet per customer limits on toilet paper and asked the public to show courtesy to staff and other shoppers 

The virus has forced Italy, Spain and France into lockdown in a bid to stop the spread of the killer illness.

Restaurants, shops, cinemas, nightclubs and cafés will shut for the foreseeable future in France.

However, supermarkets, pharmacies, banks and petrol stations will remain open.

America has also shuts its doors to travellers from Europe.

THE FOOD YOU NEED FOR 14 DAYS IN QUARANTINE 

 1 Person:

Pasta 2kg 

Pasta sauce 2 jars 

Rice 2kg 

Two minute noodles 2 pack 

Cheese slices 500g 1 pack

Vegemite 1/2 jar 

Nutella 1/2 jar 

Peanut butter 1/2 jar 

Jam 1/2 jar 

Frozen fish 1 box 

Frozen vegetables 1 kg 

Pork, beef and mince meat 

Chicken 5 breasts 

Canned tuna 7 tins 

Eggs 1 dozen 

Tinned soup 7 tins 

Tinned vegetables 5 tins

Long life milk 3 litres 

Powdered milk 

Frozen bread 2 loaves 

Sugar 1/2kg 

Cereal 1 box 

Soup 3 packs 

Salt and pepper 

 4 People:

Pasta 8kg 

Pasta sauce 8 jars 

Rice 5kg 

Two minute noodles 6 pack

Cheese slices 500g 4 pack

Vegemite 1 jar 

Nutella 1 jar

Peanut butter 1 jar

Jam 1 jar 

Frozen fish 4 boxes

Frozen vegetables 3kg 

 Pork, beef and mince meat

 Chicken 15 breasts

Canned tuna 14 tins 

Eggs 3 dozen 

Tinned soup 14 tins 

 Tinned vegetables 15 tins

 Long life milk 12 litres

 Powdered milk

 Frozen bread 8 loaves

 Sugar 1kg

 Cereal 3 boxes

 Soup 12 packs

 Salt and pepper

Source: St Vincent De Paul Society 

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