Toilet Paper Fights: Wuhan Virus In Sydney

(Staff article from the ABC NEWS on 07 March 2020.)

Just one pack? No way bitch!

Toilet paper shortage from coronavirus panic buying sees argument break out at Woolworths in Sydney. New South Wales Police have been called to a supermarket in Western Sydney after an argument broke out between two women over toilet paper.

The argument was captured on video, which has been viewed more than 210,000 times on Twitter. The video, viewed 210,000 times, shows the altercation at a Sydney Woolworths. A woman is heard asking for one packet of toilet paper, a request which is denied. It comes after a week of empty shelves amid coronavirus panic.

It begins with the two women arguing in the aisle of the Woolworths in Chullora on Saturday morning, before a man who appears to be an employee steps in. "I just want one pack!" a woman is heard saying to the other woman and her mother. "No, not one pack," the mother of the woman responds, shielding her trolley which is (disgustingly) full of toilet paper.

A third voice is heard asking "what's the limit?", an apparent reference to the limit on how much toilet paper can be purchased in a single transaction, imposed by supermarkets this week. The three women were seen in the video in a physical scuffle at Woolworths at Chullora.

The shelves of many supermarkets were stripped bare this week as shoppers stockpiled items amid a widespread panic about the spread of the coronavirus. The week saw a spike in coronavirus cases in NSW, from four this time last week to at least 34 confirmed cases as of Saturday.

NSW Police confirmed officers attended the scene after a report of the altercation. "We were called to Chullora at 9:30am after reports a 49-year-old woman had been assaulted. No arrests were made."" a NSW Police spokesperson said.

Bankstown Police Area Command duty officer, Acting Inspector Andrew New, said that supplies are being replenished and there is no need to panic. "There is no need for people to go out and panic buy at supermarkets, Paracetamol and canned food or toilet paper," Acting Inspector New said.

"It isn't the Thunderdome, it isn't Mad Max, we don't need to do that." He appealed to the public for information about the women, and continued "if there has been offences committed, we will investigate and bring them before the courts".

In a statement, a Woolworths spokesperson confirmed the altercation took place and are working with police to find out more. "We can confirm an incident involving customers at our Chullora store in Sydney earlier [on Saturday]," the spokesperson said. "We will not tolerate violence of any kind from our customers in our stores and we are working with police who are investigating the matter."

(Today Update: Two Sydney women, a mother and her daughter, have been charged over a physical altercation over toilet paper, which occurred at a Western Sydney supermarket on Saturday morning. NSW Police said officers were called out to a Woolworths in Chullora, near Bankstown, after an argument broke out between two women in an aisle over toilet paper.

Police said two women went to Bankstown Police Station about 8:00pm yesterday and were then issued court attendance notices for affray. A 49-year-old woman was allegedly assaulted but did not sustain any injuries. The two women charged over the fight are due to appear at Bankstown Local Court in late April.)

Despite assurances from the supermarkets and the State Government there are no toilet papers in Sydney.
Other serious food item quietly disappeared is RICE and it will soon bring riots onto Sydney streets.

"It's Like Scenes From A Mad Max Movie"

Americans Continue Epic Run On Costco:  As concerns of a Covid-19 outbreak increase across the US, Costco stores across the country are experiencing the second weekend of Americans panic buying food, water, and hand sanitizers. We noted last weekend how the "great panic of 2020 is underway" as Americans made a mad dash to Costco stores and other big-box retailers to hoard supplies.

At Costco somewhere in USA.

Costco CFO Richard Galanti told investors during an earnings call last week that buying panic has "been nuts." "We attribute this to concerns over the coronavirus," Galanti said. Stock prices for Walmart and Target have also benefited from the spread of the deadly virus, as people preparing for a quarantine situation load up shopping carts with bottled water, canned soup, instant mac and cheese and everything else that they could possibly need to wait out the virus. 

But the panic-buying has been leading to shortages and leaving people on edge. On the East Coast, tens of millions of Americans woke up on Saturday morning and heard the news about 44 total confirmed virus cases in New York, with a majority in Westchester, a suburb of NYC.

PIX11 News' Cristian Benavides tweeted a video of the panic that is developing in NYC this morning. He shows a long line of cars waiting to get into a Costco in Astoria, a neighborhood in Queens. ABC13 Houston reported, "We're seeing extremely long line at the Costco on Richmond this morning. Many people are trying to stock up on sanity items and water amid the coronavirus fears."

Potential Coronavirus “Food Riots,” Army Patrols

Grocery stores may have to take drastic measures. Former Tesco supply chain director Bruno Monteyne warns that a large scale outbreak of coronavirus in the UK could lead to “food riots,” requiring the army to be used to guard supermarkets.

Monteyne said that supermarkets would have to resort to drastic measures and revert to “feed the nation status” under a worse case scenario. He also cautioned that grocery stores would have trouble stocking shelves and delivering goods if their employees decided to self-isolate.

Supermarkets are to be guarded by armed-soldiers.

“Yes, it will be chaotic (and expect pictures of empty shelves),” wrote Mr Monteyne, “but the industry will reduce complexity to keep the country fed.” He said that the army may need to be drafted in to guard stores and prevent disorder. UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock said he was “confident” food supplies would not run out and that there was “absolutely no need” to panic-buy.

Hancock also claimed that supermarkets could deliver food to coronavirus patients who had self-isolated, although this claim was immediately put in doubt by one supermarket executive, who said he was “baffled” by the suggestion.

“Matt Hancock has totally made up what he said about working with supermarkets. We haven’t heard anything from government directly,” the executive said, adding, “I’m not sure the government can guarantee all food supply in all instances.”

A source at another supermarket told the BBC that there had been no detailed planning involving government departments about “ensuring uninterrupted food supplies.” Panic buying continued across the UK today, with supermarket shelves of goods like hand sanitizer, toilet paper and medicine.

Not a roll of toilet paper on the shelves in a Sydney Woolworth.
Lucky my toilet has a water-jet. No need for toilet paper.