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panic in the str eets and shops
QQQ Daily Mail, Thursday, March 5, 2020virus panic spreads
Stores look at rationing of vital
household goods as fears rise
that they may be forced to shut
By Sean Poulter
and Ruth Sunderland
emPty ShelveS
RETAILERS are consider-
ing rationing household
essentials such as toilet
paper in response to panic
buying, with some shoppers
spending £900 online.
This tactic has been used by
supermarkets in Australia after
shoppers battled over loo rolls,
with one shocking report of a
woman pulling out a knife.
Stores are also planning for a
worst-case scenario of a major
virus epidemic where large num-
bers of their staff have to stay at
home. In such circumstances exec-
utives would have no choice but to
implement temporary closures.
A study suggests around half of
retailers are having problems
ordering new stock, particularly
from overseas, as a result of coro-
navirus. The survey was commis-
sioned by Retail Economics, which
also warned: ‘Over a third – 39 per
cent – of consumers are worried
about product shortages as a
result of the coronavirus, which
has led to almost one in ten con-
sumers to stockpile.’
Shoppers visiting Costco ware-
houses reported a shortage of both
anti-bacterial cleaners and toilet
p a p e r. A t t h e s a m e t i m e , a
snapshot Daily Mail survey sug-
gested there is a national rush to
buy toilet paper, kitchen roll, large
packs of pasta, rice, disinfectant,
wipes, painkillers and Calpol medi-
cine for children.
Shop staff complained that some
people have grabbed trolley-fulls
of toilet rolls and other essentials,
leaving others empty handed.
One industry source said: ‘Retail-
ers regularly place limits on items
in order to avoid one customer
clearing them out.’
Just as supermarkets are seeing a
spike in sales of canned and pack-
aged products, there has also been
a surge in online grocery orders.
A leading retail source said peo-
ple are spending 5 to 10 per cent
more than usual on an average
online basket. And some shoppers
h a v e b e e n s p e n d i n g u p t o
£900 at one go.
The source said: ‘We don’t want
people panic buying. There’s no
need to go over the top but it is
not a bad idea to have a few things
in the cupboard anyway, regard-
less of coronavirus.’
He added: ‘There could be issues
around large numbers of people
being off sick. If, for example, the
staff at the abattoir or the poultryfarm can’t get to
work then we won’t
get the supplies.’
Retailers are taking
emergency measures
t o c o p e w i t h t h e
impact of coronavirus
on factories and sup-
pliers overseas. Some
have started stock-
piling pasta, mozza-
rella and coffee to
reduce the threat to
imports.
Chief executive of
R e t a i l E c o n o m i c s ,
Richard Lim, said: ‘While the
impacts may not yet be apparent
on shop shelves, around a third of
retailers suggested that “continu-
ity of supply” is currently their
biggest concern.
‘Of even greater concern for other
retailers is the impact on con-
sumer confidence. Consumers are
also increasingly nervous about
access to essential items.’
Andrew Opie, of the British
Retail Consortium, said: ‘Disrup-
tion to supply chains has been lim-
ited, and the availability of prod-
ucts remains good.
‘Retailers are working closely
with their suppliers and monitor-
ing consumer behaviour to antici-
pate changes in future demand.’
Comment – Page 16‘Consumer
confidence’BUCKETS, BAGS, MA SKS...jUST To CoMMUTE
Eye-catching: A London commuter yesterday in a suit... and mask
Unhappy shopper: Bus passenger wears plastic bag on his head
Shortage: Hand gel on sale for £
on Amazon following panic buyingMore aggressive strain emerges in China
A NEW, more aggressive strain of coro-
navirus has emerged in China, scien-
tists warned last night.
Researchers believe the original strain of
the Covid-19 virus has mutated into a more
aggressive type after crossing from animals
into humans in Wuhan late last year.
By late January this strain accounted for
70 per cent of cases in the Chinese city, with
the original down to 30 per cent, they said
in a research paper.
However, they added that strong contain-
ment measures – including locking down
Wuhan – meant the new mutation may
already have been controlled and the origi-
nal was back in the ascendency. Experts
believe this may explain the slowdown in
the epidemic in China in recent weeks.
Both strains are circulating in Wuhan but
the scientists, at Peking University and the
Institut Pasteur of Shanghai, believe the
new one has probably not spread further
afield in large volumes.
Although they found traces of the more
aggressive strain in other parts of China,
they said it was ‘significantly more preva-
lent in Wuhan than in other places’.
Experts fear the presence of a second
strain could slow attempts to develop avaccine. They stressed that the assessment
is at a very early stage and needs verifying.
More than 20 teams around the world are
working on a jab based on DNA code the
Chinese government made available at the
start of the crisis.
A team at Imperial College London, for
example, said it was ready to start human
trials of an experimental vaccine in weeks.
The accuracy of that original code is key
to the development of a vaccine and a sec-
ond strain in circulation may be a setback.
But experts pointed out that modern vac-
cine technology means it is not an insur-
mountable challenge to reformulate the
code of each candidate jab. The flu vaccine,for example, is reformulated each year
depending on which strains are circulating
around the world.
By the time a vaccine is ready, which is
unlikely to be for at least 18 months, it
should be possible to fine-tune it to match
whatever mutations have emerged.
The researchers, whose findings are pub-
lished in the National Science Review, the
journal of the Chinese Academy of Sciences,
identified the less aggressive strain as ‘S’
and the second as ‘L’.
Virologist Professor Jonathan Ball, of Not-
tingham University, urged caution ‘when
interpreting these kinds of computer-based
studies, interesting as they might be’.By Ben Spencer
Medical Correspondent