New Zealanders are not alone when it comes to stockpiling supplies due to coronavirus fears.
After the first known case of coronavirus was confirmed in Auckland on Friday, supermarkets reported a noticable increase in shoppers, with some items - such as toilet paper and bottled water - quickly selling out.
The surge led Kiwi experts to urge calm, saying there was no need for panic.
But Kiwis are not the only ones preparing for "worst-case-scenario" if the outbreak continues.
Virus "panic buying" is sweeping the globe, with shoppers emptying shelves of food, toilet paper, bottled water and hand sanitiser - in particular - in supermarkets and stores.
Media reports and posts on Twitter show record stockpiling by panicked locals in Sydney, Perth, Auckland, New York, San Francisco, Silicon Valley and Milan, among others.
Essential foodstuffs like bread, flour and rice, as well as canned beans and tomatoes, pasta, pasta sauce and water have flown off the shelves as both the COVID-19 pandemic and fears about it spread.
In one post doing the rounds on Twitter, a New Zealand supermarket shows every type of bread stripped from the shelves - except gluten free options.
News.com.au reported a Sydney North Shore supermarket said rice, flour and toilet paper were the "first to go" and "we can't keep up with" supplies of the goods.
US reports showed bare shelves and refrigerated sections in Costco shops where "water, toilet paper, rice, meat … all are disappearing fast".
Shelves emptying in this north shore #sydney supermarket. Rice, flour and toilet paper first to go. Staff say people stockpiling. “We can’t keep up with it.”#coronavirus @australian pic.twitter.com/raPsMT0N7a
— Christine Middap (@ChristineMiddap) February 29, 2020
Scenes from my local supermarket in Basiglio, south of Milan. Panic stocking up on food because of the #coronavirus. pic.twitter.com/krPm8hVUMn
— Kevin KQ 🇲🇽🇳🇱 (@KevinDAKQ) February 23, 2020
Costco panic price buying. This was a taller stack b4 I got the video out. #SanFrancisco #costco #rice #panicbuying pic.twitter.com/YqD1Oz80u4
— AHiTH filmfest 2020 (@AHITHFF) February 29, 2020
Silicon Valley reported its Trader Joe's shelves were emptied of canned goods.
Completely empty shelves in supermarkets and pharmacies were forcing health professionals in Sydney to order hand sanitiser online.
In a Coles supermarket in Claremont WA, a crowd of shoppers on Saturday fought to grab supplies of hand sanitiser, toilet paper, tinned food and bottled water and cram them into trolleys.
Panic buying reaches the antibac hand wash shelves of Saffron Walden. pic.twitter.com/VX5jWGSt6T
— Heather Harris (@hharrisEMEA) February 29, 2020
Photographs of the store afterwards showed empty aisles and bare shelves and shoppers reported being intimidated by others pushing in and seizing items.
The situation is predicted to worsen as Australia recorded its first coronavirus fatality, after a man who was in a Perth hospital died on Sunday morning.
At a Chinese supermarket in Flushing, New York City, USA. People say these people must have read too much stuff from #WeChat and are having the same kind of panic strike as their fellow countrymen in #China. #COVID2019 #Coronavirus #CoronavirusOutbreak #coronaviruschina pic.twitter.com/J3eqsftn3N
— Jennifer Zeng 曾錚 (@jenniferatntd) February 29, 2020
Panic buying of rice at local supermarket. Lots of Chinese buying up according to check out person. pic.twitter.com/7Zppcej3p3
— Edwinsson (@Edwinsson) March 1, 2020
Panic buying has started in Silicon Valley. Local Trader Joe’s shelves empty as people stock up canned beans, diced tomatoes, pasta, pasta sauce amid one #CoronaVirus case in Santa Clara county #COVID19
— Sumit Gupta (@SumitGup) February 29, 2020
For the love of biology, people. Please let there not be a run on masks. Some of us need them to do our jobs and to bring you new treatments and interventions for things like... new viral epidemics. https://t.co/QkjGXMe1gU
— Dr. Eliza Bliss-Moreau (@eblissmoreau) February 29, 2020
New Zealand has one confirmed coronavirus
A total of 23 coronavirus infections have been recorded in Australia to date.
As of Sunday afternoon, more than 86,980 coronavirus cases had been recorded in the world with 79,824 in China, followed by 3526 in South Korea, 1128 in Italy, 593 in Iran and 241 in Japan.
The world death toll is 2978, with 2761 of those in the Wuhan province Hubei, a total of 56 in other parts of China, 29 in Italy and 17 in South Korea.
