It's easy to panic buy...........

We definitely shouldn't be putting newspaper down the toilet! There will be a lot of water companies struggling with blockages if that ever happens. If desperate I would use those lightweight blue cleaning cloths which can easily be washed out and re-used.

Hetty I was telling GS that that was what we used ‘back in the day’! He thought it was a joke. Then he was disgusted?! To be honest, I don’t think that modern toilets would take the strain!

The thing about stocking up now is that you won't have to fight the crowds when the going gets tough. When this peaks with a bit of luck you should have enough to get by. We have the luxury of a prediction of what is about to happen. Ok I hope they are wrong and it all goes away, but ignoring it would seem short sighted.

I will go to local shops this afternoon to get my usal fresh fruit and veg. Hopefully that is not affected.

If I see my cats favourite food, I will get that too, as the are more fussy than me. They can always go and catch their own fast food if things get that bad.

Hetty I remember when I was a child using squares of newspaper hung from a nail in the outside loo in the garden of my nan's house in the country! So if I have to I'll do it again!
People are panic buying because other people are panic buying.

Do people really believe that stocking up will protect them in some way? There's an avalanche effect when they see shortages so feel compelled to buy more. Retailers must be rubbing their hands with glee (as well as gel) and hiking up their prices.

Why oh why stock up on loo roll in particular? Most of us have houses stacked with paper anyway!

I hadn’t even thought about this until I called into Sainsbury’s on Friday to pick up GS’s medication from the pharmacy. An elderly lady was asking for antibac handwash as there didn’t appear to be any on the shelves and was told by the pharmacy assistant that someone had been into the store and filled a trolley with it! I have a small stock because DH is always buying it even when there isn’t a health scare, and I always keep hand gel in my fishing bag, so what I have will have to do. If the worst comes to the worst, I will give it to DD. As for other stuff, I will try and buy as normally as I can. We could survive a siege with all the weird looking pastas I have bought from time to time and not used! I called into Lidl to get some coffee (one jar) on Wednesday and no-one seemed to be panic buying. There was plenty of fresh meat and veg and none of the shelves seemed to be particularly low. I have to do my Aldi shop today so we will see.

I received my regular weekly order online from Asda yesterday, which I mainly do as we get through a lot of catfood and I find it easier.

This time I'd also ordered my usual large size loo rolls as we were getting low. When it came there were no loo rolls at all, not even a substitution which they normally do. I find it amazing they have totally run out. How much are people buying, and where do they keep it all? Madness.

I always have a well stocked pantry of dry foods plus tins and the freezer, so we won't starve. I have no hand gel, but plenty of soap and Dettol disinfectant. Loo rolls, enough for a week or so. I do have kitchen roll if things get desperate!!!

I’m a very level headed person and don’t generally spend my life preparing for disasters.
I’m not sure what these ‘planners’ are constantly planning for anyway?
I’m 57 and I can’t ever remember not being able to buy food & basic supplies.

But this coronavirus is something else, and whilst I’m not overly worried about it, I’ll be bulk buyer because everyone else is.

Just think how much worse it would be this week if the 'planners' hadn't bough their extra supplies gradually over the past few weeks!

Their foreward planning didn't empty the shelves - the supermarkets were able to restock their shelves as normal, so it had little, if any, effect on others.

It's the last-minute panickers who do that, suddenly running around like headless chickens, grabbing whatever they can from the shelves.

Meanwhile, I imagine that most planners are now, very sensibly, avoiding this frenzied supermarket sweep, meaning that their actions have actually reduced their impact on the current situation, not added to it!

When my DH, usually the coolest person about buying extra just in case, has started to mention a shop of non perishable food. So must be time to act!

Shelves are empty in my local shops for certain products - hand sanitizers, dettol spray, that sort of thing, even soap is in short supply.
First time in my life I’m starting to panic and will be bulk buying from today.

My DD in Australia has messaged saying they (family) are nearly out of loo rolls, and hopes there will be some when she does the weekly shop.
Loo rolls are something I always have in, not because of any virus, but I buy a pack if I see they are on offer. Unfortunately not the best thing to post to help her out!

I bought loo roll,soap and hand wash yesterday.None were on my shopping list but the shelves were practically empty and there were people with trolleys filled with them.Only bought one pack of each though!
We have quite a good stock of tinned goods.Since we were so ill at Christmas and totally unprepared we have kept a stock just in case we should be housebound again.

I have not bought extra food but have bought extra cat food. If I can’t get out as some point I don’t care if I run short but I wouldn’t let my cat go hungry

I could get flour today, what wasnt on the shelves was bread, but there were Thins, rolls or bagels. Toilet roll was available , long life milk was gone. Im not panic buying. I really don't see how toilet roll and bread is going to help me with Coronavirus. This is just crazy. Regarding all the purchase of soap and wipes, did folks never wash their hands before all this?

I regularly make my own bread and nearly finished my tin of dried yeast on Tuesday. Went to Tesco on Wednesday, shelf was bare. Maybe I'm naive but couldn't believe the flour shelves were virtually empty too. Went to the Co-Op straight away and none there either, advised there would be none until the weekend. Passing a farmshop today, popped in, they had loads. Does everyone who normally buys ready made bread think they'll have to start making their own? Or are the regular breadmakers just stock piling?? I'm perplexed.

Mmmm I wonder what people used in the days before toilet paper and newspaper.
As we are all here I presume the human race survived.
1st world problem.

I don't think it is stupid or selfish to prepare for what may become a problem. If we can't get to the shops because we are ill or self-isolating, we will still need to eat, so it makes sense to have extra non-perishables in stock in case they are needed - how is that stupid?

Supermarkets work on a just-in-time basis, and deliveries are triggered by sales. If people buy more pasta, more pasta will be automatically ordered, so if I buy a couple of extra bags it won't mean that you will be short by a couple of bags - it doesn't work like that, so I can't see how it's selfish either.

As I said on another thread, I was brought up to believe that good housekeeping means being prepared for (unspecified) emergencies, and in the event of fire, flood or disease at least I won't be adding famine to the miseries of my family. It's not as though I would let things go to waste, either. If anything is not used it will go to the foodbank before it gets near its use-by date.

Just to add to australia’s panic, a lorry load of much needed toilet rolls caught fire! However, one of their newspapers has added pages of perforated toilet sheets!

I was in Sainsbury's yesterday, the shelves were definitely on the empty side.

Popped into M & S food dept. for some goodies today and it was well stocked, full shelves!

Haven't got the storage space nor the spare finance to buy up an entire supermarket.

Plus I don't have that kind of selfish mentality

It's 115 now.

I think it's where this will lead Franbern because the virus is spreading like wildfire. May be less than 100 now but what will it be in two weeks time?

Just doing my normal shop - am bewildered totally by the panic of less than a hundred people in UK becoming ill with a particular virus!!!!!
Never liked hand gel, never trust so-called anti virals, good old soap bar and hot water - was taught correct hand washing when I worked at hospital, and have always followed that.