AIBU to genuinely not understand why people are stockpiling/ panic buying

[mumof2exhausted]

I am genuinely curious as to why people are doing this. Are people worried that shops are going to run out because of supply issues or is it because people think they may have to self isolate for couple of weeks. I just don’t get the reasoning behind it. Food wise we tend to cook fresh from scratch - a friend who is a consultant at hospital has done some batch cooking and froze for when she does get covid 19 which will happen and she’s feeling unwell and has to self isolate but buying hundreds of toilet rolls. Am genuinely confused.

I really think it points to the growing problem of anxiety in our population. I think what coronavirus has taught me most is how many anxious adults there are and people that don't cope with the slightest sign of adversity. I worry about the impact of children growing up seeing this.

We always keep one spare of everything (toilet roll packet, toothpaste, washing up liquid) as we live quite rural. My cupboards have lentils, pasta etc so we can eat if we run low. I feel no need to hoard items. I do however find it really irritating that I can't complete a normal weeks food shop as paid have bled the place dry

are people panic buying potatoes?

I don't understand the big deal about CV full stop. Most healthy average people don't have to worry about it. A lock-down would be mentally and emotionally horrible on those families who are living in a bed and breakfast or a one-room hostel with two or three kids. How are they supposed to stay in one room for however long with an entire family? The only people who need to worry about CV and stay indoors are the elderly and immuno compromised surely

No one who starts a single one of these threads genuinely doesn't understand or is confused because no one is that obtuse. Such threads are always a pretext to dig at other people.

are people panic buying potatoes?

They actually keep very well in cold climates which is why there used to be root cellars commonly.

Most healthy people don’t have to worry about it, but I expect people will be worried about their parents/grandparents and concerned for those people who do have a much higher risk of mortality. That’s really not hard to understand.

Re toilet rolls - I’m pretty sure that there are not large numbers of people buying tons of these. Probably people are buying one extra packet and the shelves are being emptied quickly because (1) because otherwise they are bought very infrequently so everyone buying one extra pack is a huge increase in demand and (2) they are large items so not many fit on the shelf, hence the shelf is emptied quicker. Also possibly (3) seeing/hearing about emptyish shelves of toilet paper causes others to think they should buy a pack because the shops are running out, driving up demand still further.

@celerysam - keeping one spare of everything is no more than what most people are doing though? I did a big shop for CV because we don’t usually keep any spares in, we normally just get what we need when we need it.

Yes, I agree. I’ve heard of a very few instances of people buying up a whole shelf of loo roll but I maintain that by and large the shortage is not due to individuals buying shitloads (see what I did there...) but just due to many more people buying one more than they usually would. Which really isn’t unreasonable.

it's been said on here a zillion times

but if lots of people buy a bit more it will affect the supply chain.

I think there's so much media hype in this . No shortages here and the same few pictures of empty shelves going round.

There are always going to be some nutters anyway going mad with trolleys but personally I don't know anyone 'panicking'. Even my friend in Rome. ( who has a good stock in her cupboard thankfully)

On MN it is always being played out as

what's the fuss v. crazy panic buyer v. hard core prepper stockpiled

Most people are none of those which is why I find this OP so tedious.

Most healthy people don’t have to worry about it, but I expect people will be worried about their parents/grandparents and concerned for those people who do have a much higher risk of mortality. That’s really not hard to understand.

Sure, so panic buy for them and let them self isolate. No need for the entire country to go into meltdown.

If people have to self isolate because they get CV or suspect they have it they can't then pop to the shops and buy whatever they need in case they spread the virus.

It's only sensible to have enough food and essential supplies like toilet roll, toothpaste etc in the house to ensure that if you're not suppose to leave the house for a few weeks you don't have to.

Having said that, I saw someone walk out of a local supermarket recently with 48 toilet rolls and that is somewhat excessive. Have enough in to cover our household for a couple of weeks, not enough for a rugby team with severe diarrhoea ...

It is a different virus- its not just a standard flu. I work in healthcare with very vulnerable community based clients. They will die if they contract it. Several colleagues have already been required to self isolate. So as I feel i'm a higher risk of exposure, of course I want to be prepared for a few weeks of being housebound. It would be anti social and irresponsible not too. If there are large numbers of self isolated quarantines, we shouldn't be taking up valuable delivery slots.

When you are front line care, experiencing the very real fear that vulnerable people have, then, you wouldn't be so flippant. This may be fed through media but its still a very real threat.

The point is that the more the virus takes hold the more likely it is huge numbers of elderly people and those who are at higher risk will get ill, and die.

Many elderly people can’t self isolate as such - they need help daily to live, to eat, and they have to go to hospital for routine treatments.

It makes absolutely no sense to be stupidly complacent about it. I’m going to do my best not to catch it and if I do, not to pass it on.

Sure, so panic buy for them and let them self isolate. No need for the entire country to go into meltdown.

Has it really? not round here. Turn off your screens.

It's dear of the unknown but there's a weird view that online deliveries would somehow not be possible if you are quarantined which is what I don't get. They can just leave the shopping outside so unless daily life totally stops there wouldn't be an issue. We're currently creating our own supply issues before there are any real ones and competing with each other for resources. Humans, eh, who'd have em.

I prep (not panic buy) because I'm a single parent with no outside support so am responsible for keeping my kids fed and healthy.
Prepping means I can have specific brands in for them (eg dd likes a specific brand of shampoo) and I don't have to pay inflated prices if things become hard to get hold of.

I think it's very hard not to see what's happening in other European countries and think what if... It's very worrying that Boris is not being hardline with containment. Personally I think that events like football matches should be cancelled so that we don't have people from countries with more infected people visiting the UK in their 1000s

Trump's travel ban is going to mean more people from Europe mainland flying to the US via UK and Ireland. This is also putting our populations at risk

Tootletum - I get supermarket deliveries and I am seeing a lot of products out of stock this week. I can usually get a slot for the next day but this week I can only book 3 days in advance. If drivers get stick, the time between ordering and delivery will just get longer imo

It's dear of the unknown but there's a weird view that online deliveries would somehow not be possible if you are quarantined which is what I don't get.

If there are a large number of people self isolating then home deliveries will be massively affected - who’s going to stock the shelves, pick the orders and deliver? Even now there are no home delivery slots for the next five days from any of the supermarkets

but there's a weird view that online deliveries would somehow not be possible if you are quarantined*

there's a weird view that online deliveries would run just the same if many people were self isolating.....

I’m having to store the stockpiled chocolate bars at my diabetic parents. We have ZERO willpower and they’ve been put in the safest place I know

Heh. I’ve so far managed to valiantly resist the impulse to stockpile wine!

If you have to self-isolate for a fortnight, or you’re actually ill for say a month it’s a lot easier to have stuff in already.

As I said upthread if we get to the point that food delivery's can't get to the supermarkets & consumers then we have more important things to worry about surely

At the moment there seems to be huge variation on stock levels around the country. I saw a thread from users in Worcestershire (?) saying all supermarkets have stock of everything except hand gels. I've only seen empty shelves of soaps and hand gels round here not the empty aisles of beans and pasta shown on the news.

I get why people would rush for hand gel, dried foods etc.

But why bottled water? I’ve seen people buy loads of this stuff. You know, the taps would still be running. And wouldn’t you just boil it if you needed it sterilised?