Culture

Once Again Australians Need Reminding That COVID-19 Does Not Give You Diarrhoea

People have been panic-buying toilet paper throughout NSW...Again.

toilet-paper-panic

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People in NSW are panic-buying toilet paper again after Greater Sydney, the Blue Mountains, the Central Coast and Wollongong were placed into a two-week lockdown on Saturday.

Like clockwork, toilet paper aisles have once again been stripped bare as supermarkets in NSW lockdown areas were inundated with panic buyers. Calls from NSW premier,  Gladys Berejiklian to not panic-buy seem to have fallen on deaf ears.

Photos and videos have emerged on Twitter showing trolleys stacked with rolls of funny rolls and stores packed with people. Staples such as bread, meat, rice and pasta have also been bulk bought.

The scenes are eerily reminiscent of the first wave of Covid, back in March 2020 that also saw toilet paper fly off the shelves. On Friday,  Coles introduced temporary restrictions on toilet paper for the City of Sydney, Randwick, Waverley and Woollahra local government areas.

Supermarket chains are yet to announce if those limits will be extended to include the new lockdown areas. One Twitter user tweeted, “The empty shelves where the toilet paper rolls are usually held says everything you need to know about Sydney’s mentality. People are obviously not thinking with their brains.”

“To all the selfish people stockpiling food and toilet paper, what if I told you, you can still shop tomorrow, or the next day or the day after that….” Another user tweeted.

There are no symptoms of diarrhoea associated with COVID 19. Furthermore, the lockdown restrictions implemented in NSW do not prevent residents from shopping on any given day. In fact, grocery shopping is one of the 4 acceptable reasons you’re allowed to leave your house if you’re currently in lockdown.

Please, don’t panic-buy and stock-pile essential items that are needed by everyone. Keep up to date on the latest hotspots and COVID 19 guidelines via the NSW Health website, and the NSW Government website.