Can’t find hand wipes because of the hording and hysteria. I’ve carried a few of them with me for years (great for wiping hands at restaurants before/after eating).
Can’t find alcohol (70% or 91%) that I need for a non-medical use.
I hear that TP has been raided at places like Costco. sigh.
I hope people get a grip soon. What else are they going to run us out of by hording so much?
Meanwhile an average of 102 people per day are killed in vehicle accidents, in the US.
On February 27, Italy had 600 people infected with Coronavirus.
11 days later it had 10,149 cases and recorded 168 new deaths from the disease. The entire country is in lockdown.
Guess how many cases the USA has right now? 600…
Making spurious comparisons to the number of deaths from seasonal flu or motor vehicle accidents suggesting it is no big deal isn’t helping anyone.
In the UK some? of the grocery stores are limiting people to buying only 2 or 3 of any item.
At a grocery store in the UK someone went into, it had a big sign limiting any purchase to 3 of any item. Someone tried to buy 4 yogurt that were on sale for 2 for 4 pounds. They were told no! Another is limiting it to 2 of any item. They were trying to buy 3 packs of Dextrose tablets and argued it was medical so they were allowed too.
I haven’t heard of that in the US yet except in regards to certain products like water or tp when they were getting striped of those items. It hasn’t happened locally at all here. Except for TP being gone one day and then TP was back in but PT was gone and the next time it was kleenex. But no limiting and no barrage of people.
One of my factory managers was complaining this afternoon that he wanted to buy a small bottle of hand sanitizer at our local Market Basket but there was none available because the store was hoarding entire supply being delivered to them daily for their employee use. Employees at the cash register are required now to sanitize hands after each transaction. Although better safe than sorry, at times we seem to be going a bit overboard.
The US has close to 1,000 cases based on what I’ve read…
But I agree with your sentiment that this is not like the flu.
MN’s 3rd case was announced in my town today. I realized it was here yesterday and started isolating from other people with chronic illness because I just know I’m gonna pick it up at work (could have it already, still latent). Its been floating around a bit, I think, undetected. Be careful, you guys. Our pt is 30 years old and in critical condition. Was walking around ten days prior. I’m seeing fever pop up here and there. But, the weather is unusually warm, so it feels like summer. MN explodes with activity as soon as the snow melts. People will start to congregate. They can’t help it. They have been cooped up. Its an early spring - maybe that helps end the spread. Teachers went on strike in the city today. That may also help.
Sorry, Dave44. Had to mention it.
BTW, I didn’t stockpile food. I figured that if I had to quarantine, I would eat up all the food I never eat that’s just kinda laying around. I regret that now. This food is gross. There’s a reason why I never eat it. This is food you save for the next Great War, but don’t eat until months into it when your truly starving. I’d sooner eat soap, than eat this crap.
My daughter and granddaughter are both severely immuno-compromised. Daughter is non-symptomatic HIV positive, and granddaughter (age 8) is on immunosuppressants for a rare bone disorder. So while I don’t think the overall panic is justified, there are people for whom this thing is a real existential threat.
Makes a degree of sense. Washing hands with soap and water is far superior to hand disinfectants, but obviously they can’t run off to the rest room between every transaction.
@mohe0001 I had bought things to try and never did, I guess later it didn’t look so great after all??? Must have been hungry when I shopped?
When we moved I got rid of it all, it was great, it wasn’t sitting there staring at me making me feel guilty I hadn’t eaten it.
Lesson for issues in the future. Limit how much people can buy at one time.
I did hear of one couple in Australia that accidentally ordered a 12 year supply of TP. (Kind of funny). According to the article they live 80 miles outside of Brisbane (probably where there are limited stores) and typically order 48 rolls of TP for a 3 month supply. They switched suppliers and when the wife order 48 she didn’t realize that it was 48 BOXES of 48 rolls (not 48 individual roles). I can only imagine the look on her face when that delivery was made… 
Besides, I do not totally understand quite the issue with paper products. There are always books. I have a vast amount of books which I have slowly been replacing paper copies with digital, I end up recycling a lot of books. If things are bad enough off, you could by a digital copy of books you own and then you’ll have 300-400 pages of Kleenex, paper towels, or toilet paper.
Book pages won’t be as nice and soft. 
And breathlessly reporting each time the death count is incremented by a few more is going to solve what, exactly?
I agree.
The media is NOT helping!
There is NOTHING to be gained by panic!
@Marie20, My dad bought out all the hand sanitizer during the 1st SARS epidemic. Its all still here. Still, no one uses it. I really ought to break it out.
I agree its not helping the markets, but as a healthcare enthusiast, I do find it endlessly fascinating. I don’t watch tv, though, so I don’t get burned out on stuff.
@DrBB, My buddy quit his job yesterday. I was going to have him come work with me, but now that flu is in town, I’m nervous. Hes HIV+. Now that its here, I’m not hanging out with anybody who’s spouse has serious illness like cancer, has had major recent heart surgery, compromised organ function, etc. I’m gonna drag my feet a little now. I wish he hadn’t quit yet. I wanna see how this plays out before bringing him into the heart of the beast. I’m not sure if that’s the right thing to do. This is getting complicated. Everybody’s got so many illnesses. This is a tricky balancing act.
Honestly, I’m sorry to hear about your inability to get supplies, but my spouse bought some alcohol from Amazon to make cleanser for ourselves, as well as bag-friendly spritzers. Yes, there are extremes, masks and cleansers being bought up in bulk, but Americans need to care more, not less, about COVID.
As to risk, although individually my spouse and I are at low risk, we also have older family members that could conceivably die if they were to get infected. I work at a cancer care institution, although a non-clinical setting, and it is taken very seriously. The risk is not a discrete event like a car accident, but something that can escalate, from isolated cases to infected families to large groups to an epidemic. The risk is systemic, and can harm our most vulnerable.
As for cars, Americans are complacent about the risks of them, and they should become more concerned. Generally, people are complacent about everyday high-risks activities they believe they can handle, and worried about things that are extreme, unlikely, and out of their seeming control.
Minor mention, the number of reported US cases might be a bit low because of the lack of testing available. In fact, the Seattle teen was found by a researcher doing a flu study who did COVID testing without approval. The virus likely existed in the US weeks before it was reported.
Some places like New York, where I live, officials are still complaining about the lack of tests, and stonewalling by the government, plus a lack of high-level scientific direction and communication - from groups like the CDC - has hampered locking the virus down.
What exactly is the media supposed to do - say 3 more died but no big deal. Italy is closed, but pay no attention. Move on citizen. China closed a gigantic city, but we hate to bother you - please don’t read.
The media is doing exactly what it should be doing
What you should be questioning is why the American public is so stupid to be out buying 300 rolls of toilet paper and not the media. And why they government is like a deer in the headlights, not the media.
Media should be and is reporting the regional stuff but as usual they invariably start by using dramatic terms. For example " hospitals in crisis" (CBC source) rather than saying something less dramatic like " hospitals are struggling".
Media is (as usual) over dramatizing rather than trying to calm the growing panic. AND DON’T TRY TO TELL ME that media is JUST reporting the facts.
Even in calm Canada (where I live) the store shelves in my town are bare of disindecting wipes and TP.
Why a panic in an area where only 1 travel related case has been reported and is isolated?
I am not promoting panic!
Even Trump is being very calm about things. So is the Canadian gov and public health.
So ,who exactly , is feeding the obvious panic that is rising in north america?
Buying up a year’s worth or more of TP is irrational.
Buying much of any toilet paper is irrational. I was building public toilets in Africa in the 60’s - No toilet paper - Now spending a lot of time in India and not using toilet paper either. Many cultures do not use toilet paper for various reasons so now is a great time to upgrade to greater hygiene and totally ditch toilet paper.
There are many styles available but without going into great expense and a 10-15 minute installation, why is our society not using at least a hand held bidet sprayer. One of my favorites is:
This one is a little expensive at almost $60 delivered but considering you will never need to buy toilet paper again, still a great investment, although some are available starting just over $20. Yes, it is helpful to have a towel nearby, but not mandatory.
Maybe time for our society to start thinking a little outside the box.