Bicycle locks on a ¥50 (US$0.50) toilet roll?
Does this strike fear into your heart?
At least that appears to be the nightmare prospect scaring many Australians right now, who have become the latest group to respond to coronavirus fears by buying toilet paper en masse. This is despite authorities stressing there is no shortage - given most of the nation's rolls are made locally.
However in Sydney, the nation's largest city, supermarket shelves have been cleared in minutes, forcing one chain to enforce a four-pack buying limit.
read more
Coronavirus fuels toilet paper panic buying
As the coronavirus spreads around the world, face masks and disinfectants are flying off shelves everywhere. Demand for these products is natural, as health experts say they help protect against infection. But over the past week in Japan, unfounded rumors have led to panic buying of toilet paper, which government and industry officials alike say is completely irrational.
This weekend, I went on the hunt for a 12-pack of toilet paper, the kind that, until last week, had been readily available at any supermarket or drugstore in Tokyo. But everywhere I went, it was sold out. Staff at stores I visited said they stocked the shelves every morning, but everything was cleaned out within an hour of opening, despite a rule limiting shoppers to one package each. A quick Twitter search shows I'm not the only one with toilet paper at the front of her mind. Over the past week, there have been over 200,000 posts mentioning the words "toilet" and "paper." Other trending terms including "out of stock" and "shortage."
News of toilet paper shortages in Hong Kong and Singapore seem to be fueling this anxiety. And some people are speculating that Japan will soon be unable to secure the raw material needed for paper production, if China's economy remains inactive for much longer.
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Just a small group behaving like idiots like that will kill all of us
Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing was being praised for his plainspoken tough talk after he apparently said “disgraceful” Singaporean panic buyers were behaving like “idiots” and threw shade at Hong Kong’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak.
His comments, made in a roughly 20-minute clip that has been spreading online this week, has gotten the attention of Singaporeans who seemed to enjoy his Singlish-steeped straight-talk and agreed with what he said. The clip was recorded in a closed-door meeting with business leaders.
“Just a small group behaving like idiots like that will kill all of us, it will kill our current price negotiation strategy, it will kill our future business strategy … I was very upset on Saturday because it has long-term implications on our international standing. Every country can behave like idiots, Singaporeans must not behave like idiots,” the voice that sounds like Chan says in the ostensibly leaked clip.
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Chan Chun Sing Mocks Singaporeans in Closed-Door Meeting, Takes a Swipe at Hong Kong
‘Toilet paper crisis’ trends as people panic purchase amid coronavirus outbreak
The coronavirus has people going nuts in all kinds of exciting ways. The most recent fallout? A multi-country toilet paper shortage
The hashtag #toiletpapercrisis is trending in both Australia and the UK with contributions from other parts of the world, adding a little bit of international flavor to what is at least a funny result of a mismanaged pandemic.
Australia took the chance to weaponize literal toilet humor at its government.
British people also latched on to yet another opportunity to drag The Sun, a particularly unpopular British newspaper that regularly trends on Twitter as people put out calls to boycott it.
read more
Getting Tasered, Stealing & Other Crazy Things People Are Doing For Toilet Paper Around The World
The Covid-19 crisis is teaching us many things about personal hygiene. How to wear masks, how we’ve been washing our hands wrong all this while… and just how important toilet paper is to us.
You see it in the panic-buying sprees happening all over the world as the coronavirus spreads. It played out like a Hollywood disaster movie first in Hongkong last month where people were snapping up essentials. Among the items flying off the shelves: surgical masks and hand sanitisers (perfectly understandable), rice and cup noodles (of course), and toilet paper (but why though). Then we experienced it ourselves in Singapore in February, the fateful day when DORSCON Orange was announced. And now, people in Australia, the US and Japan are hoarding so much toilet paper, you’d be forgiven for thinking that they’d just licked food off the floor.
While it isn’t the only thing that people are bulk-purchasing in a frenzy, the fact that toilet paper has been flying off the shelves has been somewhat puzzling for some. Experts around the world have weighed in, giving several plausible reasons for the phenomenon. Some say that TP symbolises a way to have control in the midst of a pandemic that’s seemingly out of our control. Neuroscientists have explained that when we face a threat, the part of our brain that processes fear and emotions shuts down and this results in irrational thinking. Others speculate that it’s just due to plain ol’ herd mentality, or should we say, FOMO.
read more
Why are people stockpiling toilet paper? We asked four experts
As coronavirus continues to spread around the world, anxiety is rising in Australia. Shoppers fearful of quarantine measures have been stocking up on supplies to last out a week or two of isolation. Recent days have seen reports of shortages of hand sanitiser and warnings that batteries and other electronic items could be next. However, the surge in demand for one particular commodity has seen supermarket shelves stripped bare: toilet paper.
It’s not just Australians. Shops in Japan, the US and New Zealand have also run low on the precious sanitary rolls. In Hong Kong, ambitious thieves held up a supermarket to steal a delivery.
But why toilet paper? The question has been in the air for at least the past month, but it’s now become hard to avoid. We asked four experts for their thoughts:
read more
COVID-19 forces Japan to rethink its view of toilet paper
People wearing masks queue to buy masks at a drugstore in Tokyo, Japan on Feb 28, 2020. (Photo: REUTERS/Issei Kato)
In happier times a fortnight ago, the hand-scrawled notices taped to public toilet doors, urging economy with loo paper and politely urging customers not to steal were just a disturbing curio of life in Tokyo.
By last weekend, with shops across Japan sold out of the precious tissue and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe preaching against panic, TV news shows collated more ominous signage from around the country — some snarling that in-lavatory larceny would bring a police response, others closing their restrooms altogether, defeated by the crime spree. But it was the images that appeared on Monday, of toilet paper rolls bound to their dispensers with bicycle locks, that finally told a nation that Japan had descended into Lord of the Flies-style depravity.
“Bicycle locks on a ¥50 (US$0.50) toilet roll?” writhed social media. In a country where even bicycles sometimes don’t need locks? Are we humans or beasts? What will they think of us when (or if) the world arrives in July for the Olympics?
read more
Panic-buying of 'made in China' tissues, toilet paper erupts in some Japanese cities
Although some are stockpiling tissues and toilet paper out of fear that shortages are imminent, manufacturers are issuing reassurances that there is no reason for panic buying. | GETTY IMAGES
Fears that COVID-19 could lead to shortages of daily items sparked incidents of stockpiling from Thursday night through Saturday, causing drugstores and supermarkets in several cities to run short of toilet paper and other items.
But local officials and an industry association of tissue and toilet paper makers said there was no reason to panic and that there were sufficient supplies of both.
Social media posts and TV reports Friday showed long lines in front of supermarkets and drug stores in several cities. In Kumamoto, residents on bicycles were filmed loaded down with toilet and tissue paper. The hoarding was apparently sparked by social media rumors that said stores were running short on both because they were made in China and would no longer be exported to Japan.
read more
Coronavirus rumors fuel panic buying of toilet paper in Japan
Panicked Japanese consumers are stripping shelves bare of toilet paper, as unsubstantiated rumors of shortages stemming from the new coronavirus epidemic circulate on social media, sending prices soaring. "There are plenty [of supplies]. We would like consumers to take action based on correct information," pleaded Hirofumi Hayashi, chairman of the Japan Tissue Industry Association.
Tomod's, a drugstore chain, said sales of paper products, including toilet paper and tissues jumped 2.5 times last week compared with the same period last year. "Stores in Tokyo have long lines to buy [these products] and we are running out of stock," said a company spokewoman.
Toilet paper maker Marutomi Paper Manufacturing which holds 10% of the Japanese market for toilet paper, saw orders jump tenfold from normal levels on Thursday and Friday. The company usually sells around 1,600 packs of toilet paper at most per day. But it received 40,000 online orders over the two-day period.
read more
People in Japan are now stealing toilet paper in midst of coronavirus crisis
If you asked someone to say a few things they’ve heard about Japan, there’s a good chance that the country’s glowing record for honesty and low theft might come up, along with a complimentary nod to the nation’s toilets and perhaps a mention of how kind and thoughtful Japanese people are towards others.
While these things are generally true on an ordinary day, news reports circulating around Japan today suggest it’s everyone for themselves when a coronavirus pandemic is poking its head around the door of the toilet stall, because now people are stealing toilet paper from public toilets.
This photo of a public toilet in Tokyo’s Nakano area alerted many to the problem, with signs above the entrance saying ”Use of toilets suspended due to the continual theft of toilet paper”.
related: 64-yr-old man arrested for stealing a roll of toilet paper from hospital toilet
read more
People in Japan stealing toilet paper from public toilets
Japan may be well-known for its food, cleanliness, and overall consideration and politeness of its people. It seems though, that the outbreak of Covid-19 has caused something ugly to rear its head. The country’s streets have been emptier as citizens sequester themselves at home. And as the the number of confirmed cases rise to 275 as of Mar. 3, paranoia appears to be gripping many in the land of the rising sun. Recently, scuffles erupted on the streets of Yokohama over masks, which are high in demand.
Japan, with her emphasis on orderliness and uniformity, is not exempt to the mad and irrational scramble for necessities and other essentials at supermarkets. The country saw a bout of panic-buying at supermarts in Shinjuku and Saitama, where the shelves cleared of the precious commodity that is toilet paper.
It appears that toilet paper is so prized an item that some people have gone one step further. One Twitter user posted a sign taped outside a public toilet in Nakano, Tokyo, stating the use of the toilets had been suspended.The reason? The “continual theft of toilet paper”.
read more
64-year-old man arrested for stealing a roll of toilet paper from hospital toilet
A 64-year-old man had been arrested and fined after stealing a roll of toilet paper in Shimane Prefecture. The incident occurred in September at a hospital in Okinoshima, located in Oki District, Shimane Prefecture. Okinoshima lies on an island off the west coast of Japan, and has an estimated population of around 14,849.
According to reports, the man was found guilty of stealing a roll of toilet paper from a male restroom at the hospital and fined 200,000 yen. The toilet paper was valued at 30 yen. Why the man chose to take the toilet paper from the stall remains unknown, but reports say the heavy fine for such a small-value item was due to the fact that this wasn’t the man’s first offense.
The story is currently making headlines in Japan, with net users around the country commenting on the severity of the punishment and recent cases of crimes committed by the elderly. “He could’ve bought 6,000 rolls of toilet paper for that amount of money!”
read more
Covid-19: Empty shelves in Japan as people panic buy toilet rolls
Japan is in the midst of a Covid-19 outbreak. There are currently over 200 cases in Japan, with four deaths reported.
Streets have been emptier since a few weeks back, and the latest round of infections has not done anything to ease tensions over the virus. The next thing on panic buyer’s lists? Toilet rolls.
Here are some pictures of empty shelves as toilet rolls in Japan were snapped up. And like all panic buying anywhere in the world, the goods eventually end up online.
read more
‘Everyone has just gone a little bit crazy’: Australia’s toilet roll panic
There’s frenzy in the aisles at Coles Broadway, in Sydney’s inner west. A fresh stock of Quilton toilet roll has just been brought in to fill the previously sparse shelves.
But just as fast as the purple and white packs are placed on the shelves by staff, they are being pulled off again by customers.
A photo given to news.com.au by a shopper shows a customer’s trolley filled with around 20 jars of pasta sauce, packs of pasta, four jumbo bags of rice and at least four large packets Quilton – that’s 80 rolls in total.
related:
Why are Australians panic buying toilet paper?
Major Australian retailers limit toilet paper pack purchases per customer
read more
#Toiletpapercrisis: Australians panic buying due to coronavirus
On Twitter, the run on toilet paper in Australia drove up traffic of the hashtags #toiletpapergate and #toiletpapercrisis [File: Brendon Thorne/Bloomberg]
Australia's biggest grocers put strict limits on purchases of toilet paper on Wednesday after a rush of panic buying related to coronavirus fears emptied shelves as the country recorded its third case of local transmission of the disease.
Australia was one of the first countries to take a hard line on tackling the outbreak, imposing border controls on visitors from the epidemic's epicentre in China a month ago. The country has at least 39 cases, four of them involving people who caught the disease despite not having left Australia.
Still, social media has been awash in recent days with photos and video of people stockpiling goods, including sanitising products and staples like rice and eggs. The run on toilet paper, in particular, has sparked the trending hashtags #toiletpapergate and #toiletpapercrisis on Twitter, along with photos of overloaded shopping trolleys, and calls for calm from baffled officials.
read more
Virus panic buying prompts toilet paper rationing in Australia
Shelves are empty of hand sanitizer in a supermarket in Sydney on March 4, 2020. (Photo by PETER PARKS / AFP)
Australia’s biggest supermarket on Wednesday announced a limit on toilet paper purchases after the global spread of coronavirus sparked a spate of panic buying Down Under.
Woolworths said the restriction of four packs of toilet paper per person would apply “to ensure more customers have access to the products.” Hand sanitizers will also be sold from behind the service counter and restricted to two per person.
Despite government assurances, there has been a run on some items at Australian supermarkets, with images on social media purportedly showing shelves stripped of goods and shoppers piling trolleys high with toilet paper.
read more
Norfolk Island faces real food crisis while Australians panic-buy toilet paper
While Australians panic-buy toilet paper, Norfolk Island is facing a real food and supply crisis due to significant cuts to shipping services.
Residents are calling for an intervention over the food shortage, which has left supermarket shelves bare and no food for livestock for more than seven weeks.
The island has not received a cargo ship delivery since December, having lost its regular, twice-monthly deliveries due to increased difficulties offloading stock at Norfolk.
read more
Virus panic buying prompts toilet paper rationing in Australia
Australia's biggest supermarket on Wednesday announced a limit on toilet paper purchases after the global spread of corona virus sparked a spate of panic buying Down Under. Woolworths said the restriction of four packs of toilet paper per person would apply "to ensure more customers have access to the products.”
3 men armed with knives in Hong Kong rob delivery man of S$179 of toilet paper
Three armed robbers made off with hundreds of toilet rolls in Hong Kong as the city has been wracked by shortages caused by Covid-19 coronavirus panic-buying.
The assailants were then hunted by Hong Kong police on Monday, Feb 17. Police said a truck driver was held up early Monday by three men outside a supermarket in Mong Kok, a working-class district with a history of “triad” organised crime gangs.
“A delivery man was threatened by three knife-wielding men who took toilet paper worth more than HK$1,000 (S$179),” a police spokesman told AFP.
read more
People all over S’pore clearing out supermarket shelves of food & toilet paper because DORSCON Orange
Photos of local hotspots don’t seem impressive to locals that see them every day, but this viral album might change your mind. Local photographer Lemjay Lucas used this opportunity to take haunting pics of the busiest places in our little red dot last Saturday (4 Apr) to Sunday (5 Apr). He feels that the outside world looked different as spaces seemed bigger and wider with the absence of visitors.
Here’s a look at the deserted destinations due to the global pandemic.
Wuhan city, we all know that it's the 1st Chinese city famous for the Coronavirus. But do u know the city itself ? Here it is - real amazing you will surely like this
Above link is for marking Wuhan city's opening after COVID-19. The photos are darkened but when you touch it, it will brighten as a sign of light returning to Wuhan! Open the link and try it!
Singapore reports its first cases of local COVID-19 transmission
Singapore confirms cases of COVID-19 Virus
Minister for Trade and Industry, Maj-Gen “Kee Chiu” Chan Chun Sing had a hearty laugh with business leaders as he condemned the behaviour of Singaporeans who he deemed overreacted to the 2019-nCoV Wuhan Virus scare.
In a leaked audio clip that has been making the rounds online, Maj-Gen Chan, who is slated to be Singapore’s next Deputy Prime Minister, is heard putting down Singaporeans, and taking swipes at Hong Kong and China. Maj-Gen Chan put down the efforts of Hong Kong and China’s leaders to stem the spread of the virus, and also laughed at Singaporeans who sought more masks from the government and stormed supermarkets to stock up on food supplies. The meeting reportedly took place last week.
Here’s some of the juiciest quotes from Maj-Gen Chan’s speech:
- On Singaporeans complaining about mask distribution
- On limited supply of face masks
- On Hong Kong’s leadership regarding personal safety and hygiene
- On Singaporeans being a disgrace
- On “suckers” who stockpiled food
- On stupid Singaporeans
The hashtag #toiletpapercrisis is trending in both Australia and the UK with contributions from other parts of the world, adding a little bit of international flavor to what is at least a funny result of a mismanaged pandemic.
Australia took the chance to weaponize literal toilet humor at its government.
British people also latched on to yet another opportunity to drag The Sun, a particularly unpopular British newspaper that regularly trends on Twitter as people put out calls to boycott it.
read more
Getting Tasered, Stealing & Other Crazy Things People Are Doing For Toilet Paper Around The World
It's not just us in Singapore, okay?
The Covid-19 crisis is teaching us many things about personal hygiene. How to wear masks, how we’ve been washing our hands wrong all this while… and just how important toilet paper is to us.
You see it in the panic-buying sprees happening all over the world as the coronavirus spreads. It played out like a Hollywood disaster movie first in Hongkong last month where people were snapping up essentials. Among the items flying off the shelves: surgical masks and hand sanitisers (perfectly understandable), rice and cup noodles (of course), and toilet paper (but why though). Then we experienced it ourselves in Singapore in February, the fateful day when DORSCON Orange was announced. And now, people in Australia, the US and Japan are hoarding so much toilet paper, you’d be forgiven for thinking that they’d just licked food off the floor.
While it isn’t the only thing that people are bulk-purchasing in a frenzy, the fact that toilet paper has been flying off the shelves has been somewhat puzzling for some. Experts around the world have weighed in, giving several plausible reasons for the phenomenon. Some say that TP symbolises a way to have control in the midst of a pandemic that’s seemingly out of our control. Neuroscientists have explained that when we face a threat, the part of our brain that processes fear and emotions shuts down and this results in irrational thinking. Others speculate that it’s just due to plain ol’ herd mentality, or should we say, FOMO.
read more
Why are people stockpiling toilet paper? We asked four experts
As coronavirus continues to spread around the world, anxiety is rising in Australia. Shoppers fearful of quarantine measures have been stocking up on supplies to last out a week or two of isolation. Recent days have seen reports of shortages of hand sanitiser and warnings that batteries and other electronic items could be next. However, the surge in demand for one particular commodity has seen supermarket shelves stripped bare: toilet paper.
It’s not just Australians. Shops in Japan, the US and New Zealand have also run low on the precious sanitary rolls. In Hong Kong, ambitious thieves held up a supermarket to steal a delivery.
But why toilet paper? The question has been in the air for at least the past month, but it’s now become hard to avoid. We asked four experts for their thoughts:
- Toilet paper symbolises control. We use it to “tidy up” and “clean up”. It deals with a bodily function that is somewhat taboo.
- It’s an interesting question. My suspicion is that it is to do with how people react to stress: they want an element of comfort and security. For many Westerners there is a “yuck factor” associated with non-toilet paper cleaning.
- I don’t know for certain but I suspect that most people only buy toilet paper when they just about run out, which could be a problem if you need to stay isolated for two weeks.
- People are scared, and they’re bunkering down. They’re buying what they need and one of the items is toilet paper. But if there’s not a roll of toilet paper, then that’s pretty frustrating for everyone. Sure, tissues or paper towels, but it’s not quite the same, is it?
read more
COVID-19 forces Japan to rethink its view of toilet paper
In happier times a fortnight ago, the hand-scrawled notices taped to public toilet doors, urging economy with loo paper and politely urging customers not to steal were just a disturbing curio of life in Tokyo.
By last weekend, with shops across Japan sold out of the precious tissue and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe preaching against panic, TV news shows collated more ominous signage from around the country — some snarling that in-lavatory larceny would bring a police response, others closing their restrooms altogether, defeated by the crime spree. But it was the images that appeared on Monday, of toilet paper rolls bound to their dispensers with bicycle locks, that finally told a nation that Japan had descended into Lord of the Flies-style depravity.
“Bicycle locks on a ¥50 (US$0.50) toilet roll?” writhed social media. In a country where even bicycles sometimes don’t need locks? Are we humans or beasts? What will they think of us when (or if) the world arrives in July for the Olympics?
read more
Panic-buying of 'made in China' tissues, toilet paper erupts in some Japanese cities
Fears that COVID-19 could lead to shortages of daily items sparked incidents of stockpiling from Thursday night through Saturday, causing drugstores and supermarkets in several cities to run short of toilet paper and other items.
But local officials and an industry association of tissue and toilet paper makers said there was no reason to panic and that there were sufficient supplies of both.
Social media posts and TV reports Friday showed long lines in front of supermarkets and drug stores in several cities. In Kumamoto, residents on bicycles were filmed loaded down with toilet and tissue paper. The hoarding was apparently sparked by social media rumors that said stores were running short on both because they were made in China and would no longer be exported to Japan.
read more
Coronavirus rumors fuel panic buying of toilet paper in Japan
Panicked Japanese consumers are stripping shelves bare of toilet paper, as unsubstantiated rumors of shortages stemming from the new coronavirus epidemic circulate on social media, sending prices soaring. "There are plenty [of supplies]. We would like consumers to take action based on correct information," pleaded Hirofumi Hayashi, chairman of the Japan Tissue Industry Association.
Tomod's, a drugstore chain, said sales of paper products, including toilet paper and tissues jumped 2.5 times last week compared with the same period last year. "Stores in Tokyo have long lines to buy [these products] and we are running out of stock," said a company spokewoman.
Toilet paper maker Marutomi Paper Manufacturing which holds 10% of the Japanese market for toilet paper, saw orders jump tenfold from normal levels on Thursday and Friday. The company usually sells around 1,600 packs of toilet paper at most per day. But it received 40,000 online orders over the two-day period.
read more
People in Japan are now stealing toilet paper in midst of coronavirus crisis
Theft of products from restrooms is dragging a famously considerate and honest society down the drain
If you asked someone to say a few things they’ve heard about Japan, there’s a good chance that the country’s glowing record for honesty and low theft might come up, along with a complimentary nod to the nation’s toilets and perhaps a mention of how kind and thoughtful Japanese people are towards others.
While these things are generally true on an ordinary day, news reports circulating around Japan today suggest it’s everyone for themselves when a coronavirus pandemic is poking its head around the door of the toilet stall, because now people are stealing toilet paper from public toilets.
This photo of a public toilet in Tokyo’s Nakano area alerted many to the problem, with signs above the entrance saying ”Use of toilets suspended due to the continual theft of toilet paper”.
related: 64-yr-old man arrested for stealing a roll of toilet paper from hospital toilet
read more
People in Japan stealing toilet paper from public toilets
Every man for himself now
Japan may be well-known for its food, cleanliness, and overall consideration and politeness of its people. It seems though, that the outbreak of Covid-19 has caused something ugly to rear its head. The country’s streets have been emptier as citizens sequester themselves at home. And as the the number of confirmed cases rise to 275 as of Mar. 3, paranoia appears to be gripping many in the land of the rising sun. Recently, scuffles erupted on the streets of Yokohama over masks, which are high in demand.
Japan, with her emphasis on orderliness and uniformity, is not exempt to the mad and irrational scramble for necessities and other essentials at supermarkets. The country saw a bout of panic-buying at supermarts in Shinjuku and Saitama, where the shelves cleared of the precious commodity that is toilet paper.
It appears that toilet paper is so prized an item that some people have gone one step further. One Twitter user posted a sign taped outside a public toilet in Nakano, Tokyo, stating the use of the toilets had been suspended.The reason? The “continual theft of toilet paper”.
read more
64-year-old man arrested for stealing a roll of toilet paper from hospital toilet
A 64-year-old man had been arrested and fined after stealing a roll of toilet paper in Shimane Prefecture. The incident occurred in September at a hospital in Okinoshima, located in Oki District, Shimane Prefecture. Okinoshima lies on an island off the west coast of Japan, and has an estimated population of around 14,849.
According to reports, the man was found guilty of stealing a roll of toilet paper from a male restroom at the hospital and fined 200,000 yen. The toilet paper was valued at 30 yen. Why the man chose to take the toilet paper from the stall remains unknown, but reports say the heavy fine for such a small-value item was due to the fact that this wasn’t the man’s first offense.
The story is currently making headlines in Japan, with net users around the country commenting on the severity of the punishment and recent cases of crimes committed by the elderly. “He could’ve bought 6,000 rolls of toilet paper for that amount of money!”
read more
Covid-19: Empty shelves in Japan as people panic buy toilet rolls
Japan is in the midst of a Covid-19 outbreak. There are currently over 200 cases in Japan, with four deaths reported.
Streets have been emptier since a few weeks back, and the latest round of infections has not done anything to ease tensions over the virus. The next thing on panic buyer’s lists? Toilet rolls.
Here are some pictures of empty shelves as toilet rolls in Japan were snapped up. And like all panic buying anywhere in the world, the goods eventually end up online.
read more
‘Everyone has just gone a little bit crazy’: Australia’s toilet roll panic
A customer buying a lot of toilet roll. Picture: Chan Kwok Kei / Source:news.com.au
But just as fast as the purple and white packs are placed on the shelves by staff, they are being pulled off again by customers.
A photo given to news.com.au by a shopper shows a customer’s trolley filled with around 20 jars of pasta sauce, packs of pasta, four jumbo bags of rice and at least four large packets Quilton – that’s 80 rolls in total.
related:
Why are Australians panic buying toilet paper?
Major Australian retailers limit toilet paper pack purchases per customer
read more
#Toiletpapercrisis: Australians panic buying due to coronavirus
Australia's biggest grocers put strict limits on purchases of toilet paper on Wednesday after a rush of panic buying related to coronavirus fears emptied shelves as the country recorded its third case of local transmission of the disease.
Australia was one of the first countries to take a hard line on tackling the outbreak, imposing border controls on visitors from the epidemic's epicentre in China a month ago. The country has at least 39 cases, four of them involving people who caught the disease despite not having left Australia.
Still, social media has been awash in recent days with photos and video of people stockpiling goods, including sanitising products and staples like rice and eggs. The run on toilet paper, in particular, has sparked the trending hashtags #toiletpapergate and #toiletpapercrisis on Twitter, along with photos of overloaded shopping trolleys, and calls for calm from baffled officials.
read more
Virus panic buying prompts toilet paper rationing in Australia
Australia’s biggest supermarket on Wednesday announced a limit on toilet paper purchases after the global spread of coronavirus sparked a spate of panic buying Down Under.
Woolworths said the restriction of four packs of toilet paper per person would apply “to ensure more customers have access to the products.” Hand sanitizers will also be sold from behind the service counter and restricted to two per person.
Despite government assurances, there has been a run on some items at Australian supermarkets, with images on social media purportedly showing shelves stripped of goods and shoppers piling trolleys high with toilet paper.
read more
Norfolk Island faces real food crisis while Australians panic-buy toilet paper
While Australians panic-buy toilet paper, Norfolk Island is facing a real food and supply crisis due to significant cuts to shipping services.
Residents are calling for an intervention over the food shortage, which has left supermarket shelves bare and no food for livestock for more than seven weeks.
The island has not received a cargo ship delivery since December, having lost its regular, twice-monthly deliveries due to increased difficulties offloading stock at Norfolk.
read more
Virus panic buying prompts toilet paper rationing in Australia
Australia's biggest supermarket on Wednesday announced a limit on toilet paper purchases after the global spread of corona virus sparked a spate of panic buying Down Under. Woolworths said the restriction of four packs of toilet paper per person would apply "to ensure more customers have access to the products.”
Despite government assurances, there has been a run on some items at Australian supermarkets, with images on social media purportedly showing shelves stripped of goods and shoppers piling trolleys high with toilet paper.
Police had to be called to a Sydney supermarket at lunchtime Wednesday when a knife was drawn in a toilet paper aisle.
Police had to be called to a Sydney supermarket at lunchtime Wednesday when a knife was drawn in a toilet paper aisle.
read more
Crowds rush to some supermarkets as Covid-19 enters NZ
The supermarket rush coincides with the confirmation of the first coronavirus case in New Zealand.
One Auckland supermarket manager told RNZ they noticed a surge of customers after the confirmed case was announced last night. They said many people were purchasing toilet paper, hand sanitiser, and tinned food.
In a statement, Foodstuffs said some supermarkets were limiting the number of people in-store at any one time.
read more
Shoppers worried about coronavirus stock piling hand sanitizer, toilet paper
Shoppers visit a Costco Wholesale in Tigard, Ore., Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020, after reports of Oregon's first case of coronavirus was announced in the nearby Oregon city of Lake Oswego on Friday. (AP Photo/Gillian Flaccus)
Shoppers are stocking up on supplies to prepare for the potential spread of coronavirus. At a Costco in South Seattle on Saturday, customers bought up hand sanitizer and disinfecting wipes. Surgical masks were sold out at Costco, as well as Kirkland brand toilet paper.
“We’re generally just prepared for stuff like this because we don’t want any germs, frankly,” another Costo shopper said. “I understand that this is a new thing and people are trying to figure out how to wrangle it in and keep everybody healthy, but I think the big message is wash your ‘hands, wash our hands.'”
A similar situation was reported at the Costco near Lake Oswego in Oregon. Worried shoppers thronged the store, emptying shelves of items including toilet paper, paper towels, bottled water, frozen berries, and black beans. “Toilet paper is golden in an apocalypse,” one Costco employee said. Employees said the store ran out of toilet paper for the first time in its history and that it was the busiest they had ever seen, including during Christmas Eve.
read more
Taiwan toilet paper panic: why is island caught short?
Taiwan retailers have seen a rush on toilet paper over the weekend, as word spread of an imminent sharp price rise.
Shoppers used social media to post pictures of empty shelves where the product would usually be. Manufacturers have written to retailers warning that prices are set to rise by 10% to 30% next month, as extra costs are passed on to customers.
But some shoppers said they bulk-bought because of fears the product would run out, rather than over price worries.
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Taiwan goes on a panic-buying spree — for toilet paper
A run on toilet paper has left store shelves bare throughout Taiwan, like this shop in Taipei.(David Chang / EPA/Shutterstock)
Taiwan is no stranger to panic buying. Taiwanese have lined up for gasoline for fear of price hikes and made a run for fresh produce ahead of rain that was forecast to damage crops and raise prices. They have lived through sudden shortages in milk and bottled water.
Now there’s a run on toilet paper in what’s being described as the worst panic-buying spree in nearly five decades.
Selena Lin checked a few convenience stores in the capital, Taipei, last week, but found the shelves empty. She was racing off to another store in hopes of finding bathroom tissue before another expected price hike.
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Photo of the Day: End of the roll for Taiwan toilet paper panic
Cyclist Joshua Samuel Brown (葉家喜), author of four books on Taiwan including two Taiwan guidebooks for Lonely Planet, poses with a photo of stacks of toilet paper packages to show that the mad run on toilet tissues in Taiwan seems to be finally winding down.
Due to production disruptions in Brazil and forest fires in Canada, the global cost of short fiber pulp, which is used to produce toilet paper, has risen from US$650 per ton on average to US$800 as of February, according to the the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA).
Toilet paper suppliers in February informed Taiwan's retailers that prices of the product will go up by 10 to 30 percent, likely starting in mid-March. This means that consumers are likely to see the cost of a 12 pack of inter-fold toilet paper to rise from NT$200 (US$6.84) to NT$260 (US$8.89), reported CNA.
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Massive toilet paper buying frenzy breaks out in Taiwan ahead of price hike
In what can only be called the TPocalypse, toilet paper is flying off shelves across Taiwan at the moment following reports of a dramatic price hike coming next month, leaving sluggish consumers with nothing to wipe their butts with.
Because of production disruptions in Brazil and forest fires in Canada, the global cost of short fiber pulp, a material used to produce toilet paper, has shot up from US$650 per ton on average to US $800, Taiwan News quotes the Ministry of Economic Affairs as saying. This fact has caused toilet paper suppliers to inform Taiwan’s retailers that they can expect the price of the product to increase by 10 to 30% in mid-March. Taiwan’s Central News Agency (CNA) explains that for consumers this could mean a 12-pack of toilet paper which currently costs NT$200 (US$6.84) could soon cost them NT$260 (US$8.89).
After word of this projected price hike got out, consumers across Taiwan began flocking to supermarkets, grabbing as much precious TP as they could carry. On Sunday and Monday, photos went viral showing row upon row of empty shelves.
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Taiwan Is Going Through A Toilet Paper Crisis And It's Terrifying
People in Taiwan are hoarding toilet paper after supermarkets announced that prices would be going up next month. Supermarkets said that prices for toilet paper would be increasing by 10–30% by mid-March, citing the rise in the price of pulp internationally.
There have been incredible scenes across the country as people scramble to buy as much toilet paper as possible. The mad panic for toilet paper has created a nationwide toilet paper shortage.
According to posts in a popular Taiwanese Costco Facebook group, some Costcos sold out of toilet paper just four minutes after opening.
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Viral hysteria: Hong Kong panic buying sparks run on toilet paper
Panic buyers in Hong Kong have descended on supermarkets to snap up toilet rolls as the government warned that online rumours of shortages were hampering the city's fight against a deadly coronavirus outbreak.
Videos obtained by AFP showed long queues of frantic shoppers packing trolleys with multiple packets of toilet rolls, with some arguments breaking out. Rice and pasta have also become a popular target for panic buying.
The footage - and photos of shelves emptied of toilet rolls - sparked a call from the government for the public to halt panic buying.
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Crowds rush to some supermarkets as Covid-19 enters NZ
Tissues sold out at this supermarket in Taumarunui. Photo: RNZ
One Auckland supermarket manager told RNZ they noticed a surge of customers after the confirmed case was announced last night. They said many people were purchasing toilet paper, hand sanitiser, and tinned food.
In a statement, Foodstuffs said some supermarkets were limiting the number of people in-store at any one time.
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Shoppers worried about coronavirus stock piling hand sanitizer, toilet paper
Shoppers are stocking up on supplies to prepare for the potential spread of coronavirus. At a Costco in South Seattle on Saturday, customers bought up hand sanitizer and disinfecting wipes. Surgical masks were sold out at Costco, as well as Kirkland brand toilet paper.
“We’re generally just prepared for stuff like this because we don’t want any germs, frankly,” another Costo shopper said. “I understand that this is a new thing and people are trying to figure out how to wrangle it in and keep everybody healthy, but I think the big message is wash your ‘hands, wash our hands.'”
A similar situation was reported at the Costco near Lake Oswego in Oregon. Worried shoppers thronged the store, emptying shelves of items including toilet paper, paper towels, bottled water, frozen berries, and black beans. “Toilet paper is golden in an apocalypse,” one Costco employee said. Employees said the store ran out of toilet paper for the first time in its history and that it was the busiest they had ever seen, including during Christmas Eve.
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Taiwan toilet paper panic: why is island caught short?
Toilet paper manufacturers have warned prices could rise by 10-30%
Taiwan retailers have seen a rush on toilet paper over the weekend, as word spread of an imminent sharp price rise.
Shoppers used social media to post pictures of empty shelves where the product would usually be. Manufacturers have written to retailers warning that prices are set to rise by 10% to 30% next month, as extra costs are passed on to customers.
But some shoppers said they bulk-bought because of fears the product would run out, rather than over price worries.
read more
Taiwan goes on a panic-buying spree — for toilet paper
Taiwan is no stranger to panic buying. Taiwanese have lined up for gasoline for fear of price hikes and made a run for fresh produce ahead of rain that was forecast to damage crops and raise prices. They have lived through sudden shortages in milk and bottled water.
Now there’s a run on toilet paper in what’s being described as the worst panic-buying spree in nearly five decades.
Selena Lin checked a few convenience stores in the capital, Taipei, last week, but found the shelves empty. She was racing off to another store in hopes of finding bathroom tissue before another expected price hike.
read more
Photo of the Day: End of the roll for Taiwan toilet paper panic
Cyclist Joshua Samuel Brown (葉家喜), author of four books on Taiwan including two Taiwan guidebooks for Lonely Planet, poses with a photo of stacks of toilet paper packages to show that the mad run on toilet tissues in Taiwan seems to be finally winding down.
Due to production disruptions in Brazil and forest fires in Canada, the global cost of short fiber pulp, which is used to produce toilet paper, has risen from US$650 per ton on average to US$800 as of February, according to the the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA).
Toilet paper suppliers in February informed Taiwan's retailers that prices of the product will go up by 10 to 30 percent, likely starting in mid-March. This means that consumers are likely to see the cost of a 12 pack of inter-fold toilet paper to rise from NT$200 (US$6.84) to NT$260 (US$8.89), reported CNA.
read more
Massive toilet paper buying frenzy breaks out in Taiwan ahead of price hike
In what can only be called the TPocalypse, toilet paper is flying off shelves across Taiwan at the moment following reports of a dramatic price hike coming next month, leaving sluggish consumers with nothing to wipe their butts with.
Because of production disruptions in Brazil and forest fires in Canada, the global cost of short fiber pulp, a material used to produce toilet paper, has shot up from US$650 per ton on average to US $800, Taiwan News quotes the Ministry of Economic Affairs as saying. This fact has caused toilet paper suppliers to inform Taiwan’s retailers that they can expect the price of the product to increase by 10 to 30% in mid-March. Taiwan’s Central News Agency (CNA) explains that for consumers this could mean a 12-pack of toilet paper which currently costs NT$200 (US$6.84) could soon cost them NT$260 (US$8.89).
After word of this projected price hike got out, consumers across Taiwan began flocking to supermarkets, grabbing as much precious TP as they could carry. On Sunday and Monday, photos went viral showing row upon row of empty shelves.
read more
Taiwan Is Going Through A Toilet Paper Crisis And It's Terrifying
People in Taiwan are hoarding toilet paper after supermarkets announced that prices would be going up next month. Supermarkets said that prices for toilet paper would be increasing by 10–30% by mid-March, citing the rise in the price of pulp internationally.
There have been incredible scenes across the country as people scramble to buy as much toilet paper as possible. The mad panic for toilet paper has created a nationwide toilet paper shortage.
According to posts in a popular Taiwanese Costco Facebook group, some Costcos sold out of toilet paper just four minutes after opening.
read more
Viral hysteria: Hong Kong panic buying sparks run on toilet paper
A woman looks at empty supermarket shelves in Hong Kong. (Photo: AFP/Philip Fong)
Videos obtained by AFP showed long queues of frantic shoppers packing trolleys with multiple packets of toilet rolls, with some arguments breaking out. Rice and pasta have also become a popular target for panic buying.
The footage - and photos of shelves emptied of toilet rolls - sparked a call from the government for the public to halt panic buying.
read more
3 men armed with knives in Hong Kong rob delivery man of S$179 of toilet paper
Three armed robbers made off with hundreds of toilet rolls in Hong Kong as the city has been wracked by shortages caused by Covid-19 coronavirus panic-buying.
The assailants were then hunted by Hong Kong police on Monday, Feb 17. Police said a truck driver was held up early Monday by three men outside a supermarket in Mong Kok, a working-class district with a history of “triad” organised crime gangs.
“A delivery man was threatened by three knife-wielding men who took toilet paper worth more than HK$1,000 (S$179),” a police spokesman told AFP.
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People all over S’pore clearing out supermarket shelves of food & toilet paper because DORSCON Orange
People in Hong Kong have reportedly started clearing out shelves of food in supermarkets. And it appears that the same is happening in Singapore.
Photos of people clearing the shelves of food have been circulating online on social media. It appears that dry foods, such as instant noodles and pasta, are being snapped up. Other necessities, such as toilet paper, also appear to be cleared out at some places.
When Mothership went to several supermarkets in Singapore during the evening (Feb. 7), large crowds were observed and some shelves appeared to be emptier than usual.
13 Haunting Pictures of Singapore
Popular destinations in Singapore are often packed with tourists and locals, but the Covid-19 outbreak has prompted many to stay indoors.
Photos of local hotspots don’t seem impressive to locals that see them every day, but this viral album might change your mind. Local photographer Lemjay Lucas used this opportunity to take haunting pics of the busiest places in our little red dot last Saturday (4 Apr) to Sunday (5 Apr). He feels that the outside world looked different as spaces seemed bigger and wider with the absence of visitors.
Here’s a look at the deserted destinations due to the global pandemic.
Wuhan: A City in China
Wuhan city, we all know that it's the 1st Chinese city famous for the Coronavirus. But do u know the city itself ? Here it is - real amazing you will surely like this
Above link is for marking Wuhan city's opening after COVID-19. The photos are darkened but when you touch it, it will brighten as a sign of light returning to Wuhan! Open the link and try it!
I Gotta Wash My Hands!
There's Bird Flu (chicken), SARS (civet cats), Swine Fever (pigs), Mad Cow Disease (cattle), Ebola (monkeys & chimpanzee) & MERS (camels) & now COVID-19 (bats & pangolin). Hope Mr Mare is not galloping out to spread "Beh" (horse) virus. Haha.
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