Shopping restrictions are BACK: Coles announces purchasing limits on toilet paper at ALL stores after Melbourne outbreak sparked renewed panic buying
- Coles announced it is bringing back purchase limits on toilet paper for all stores
- From Friday customers, can only buy one pack of toilet paper and paper towels
- The move comes after a spike in panic buying in Melbourne following outbreak
Coles is bringing back purchase limits on toilet paper for all its stores after a spike in panic buying in Melbourne.
From Friday customers, can only buy one pack of toilet paper and one pack of paper towels at all Coles supermarkets and Coles Express stores.
On Wednesday both Coles and Woolworths reintroduced shopping limits on products in Victoria.
A Coles spokeswoman said those additional purchase limits on items, including mince, pasta, rice and sugar, still applies for stores in Victoria and on the NSW border.
She said Coles is implementing purchase limits to ensure more customers have access to staple items.
A toilet paper shelf at Woolworths in Hillside was almost empty after shoppers scrambled to get their hands on a packet
Shelves at Coles in Taylor’s Hill in Melbourne are stripped of product on Tueswday as panic buying takes hold after new outbreak of COVID-19
The move comes as concerned residents strip some stores of the essential items as they face the possibility of mandatory lockdown amid an outbreak of COVID-19 cases in outer-suburban Melbourne.
On Tuesday, tensions were already on the rise in COVID-19 hot spots from Melbourne’s west to east.
One Brimbank resident told Daily Mail Australia he had heard about people stockpiling again on morning radio and had come down to the shops to grab some rolls before they vanished.
Reports spread quickly that a local shopping centre within the same municipality had already run out of the product.
‘I’m not getting caught out again,’ the man said.
He could later be heard calling family members telling them to stock-up as soon as possible.
Others worried when hoarders might start stockpiling other products.
A woman carries a packet of toilet paper through Brimbank shopping centre on Monday
Australians have been warned to stay away from six council in Melbourne: Hume, Casey and Brimbank, Moreland, Cardinia and Darebin
The six hotspots have been identified as the local government areas of Hume, Casey, Brimbank, Moreland, Cardinia and Darebin.
On Friday, Victoria reported another 30 cases of COVID-19 on Friday as the state undertakes mass testing in Melbourne’s hotspot suburbs.
Of the new cases, five have been detected through routine testing, five in hotel quarantine and seven linked to known outbreaks.
Another 13 cases are still under investigation.
Friday’s announcement comes as Premier Daniel Andrews announced he wanted to carry out a ‘testing blitz’ in 10 COVID-19 hotspot suburbs across Melbourne.
‘Victorians are listening to the messages and getting tested when they are symptomatic or getting tested in the hotspot areas where we are asking people to be tested regardless of symptoms.’
More to come