Citizens in Indonesia have started to panic buy groceries following the announcement of two confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country.
Citizens have shared their experiences of being in an unusually crowded supermarket, and many people were buying goods in bulk to keep their homes stocked up amid fear of a coronavirus outbreak in Indonesia.
According to Sandra, 60, she experienced a long queue in the supermarket. “I went there to buy my usual monthly groceries, like rice and other foods. But I was very surprised to find ten tills at the supermarket with unusually long queues,” she said.
The items that people are buying in bulk include instant noodles, frozen foods, hand sanitiser, and antiseptic cleaners. People that usually go for a monthly shop are seeing this and it seems to be making them panic and start to buy more than usual.
“My in-laws also saw a similar scene at a supermarket near their house. Seeing a sight like that made me panicky, too. I ended up buying more than usual,” said Sandra.
Etty, 58, said that when she visited a nearby supermarket at Radio Dalam, she found it hard to find a parking spot. Dea, 25, an office worker, stated that many items in her local shops were sold out. Many people are also going to drug stores to buy face masks and vitamins.
“After hearing the President’s announcement [on the COVID-19 cases], five of my coworkers and I went to a drugstore near our office after work. However, we could only buy multivitamins and wet wipes. Other items like rubbing alcohol and face masks were sold out,” she said. She went on to say that she went to a high-end supermarket inside a mall and took the last trolley out of that place.
“It surprised me because the supermarket I went to is a high-end supermarket. Such scenes are uncommon [there],” Dea added.
Source: The Jakarta Post
Image: Nasional Tempo