SOME supermarkets across the country have begun to limit the amount of groceries a person could purchase as a means of curbing what some believe is unnecessary “panic buying” of foodstuff due to fears arising from the coronavirus (COVID-19) reaching Guyana.

Several persons are reporting being limited in their purchase of products such as flour, rice, milk, cooking oil, canned goods, and toilet paper, while at other supermarkets, some of these items were either missing, or only had a few of the products available on the shelves.
This adds to the mass buying of bleach and other cleaning products. Panic-buying entails persons buying large quantities of products due to sudden fears of a forthcoming shortage or price rise.

As a protective measure, several countries have implemented quarantine, while the general fear of food running out has led to persons stockpiling goods in the event of a food crisis.
Guyana has been experiencing many of the symptoms other countries have experienced after recording its first coronavirus case on March 11. Four other cases have since been confirmed; however, they are all related to the original patient, a 52-year-old woman who died from the virus.

The first reaction by Guyanese saw a rush at local pharmacies and store for various preventative medication and disinfectants. Products included hand sanitizers, Lysol, Clorox and other disinfectants, face masks as well as medications.
Several businesses have taken advantage of the situation by inflating prices for products in demand.

That situation has since evolved into an increase in demand for food commodities.
According to reports from consumers, some supermarkets are engaging in “price gouging” for certain types of groceries. A number of supermarkets have also put measures in place that do not allow customers entry into their stores. Customers make their purchases at the doors of these business places.
At some supermarkets, persons can be seen queuing up at the barred doors, awaiting their turn to make their purchases.

LONG LINES
At a supermarket on the West Bank Demerara, one shopper said she left after refusing to deal with the long line.

“I went to buy drink, and everybody got to give them a list. I see the madness for one bottle drink, and I beat out and went to another shop. They tell a woman she has to get a list and give them; that she can’t go in,” said the consumer, who asked not to be named.
Though this measure is being implemented as a means of reducing the spread of the virus, the consumer does not believe it is necessarily achieving its aim.
“They get the people outside, but collecting the money. You can still get ‘corona’ from the money. It didn’t really bother me, but I felt sorry for the people sitting outside. It was as if they scorn the people,” she said.

At a supermarket at Vreed-en-Hoop, in West Demerara, another consumer said quotas are being placed on products such as garlic and potatoes.
“My friend picked up two parcels of garlic, some potatoes and two parcels of onion. But when we went to cash, the cashier said, ‘You can’t get two onions; you can only get one onion.’ They said the ‘bossman’ said they don’t have enough stocks, so they want everybody to get at least one,” the consumer shared.

Several countries have experienced waves of panic-buying when they began to record cases of the coronavirus, which has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The coronavirus has been sweeping the globe since the first outbreak in Wuhan, China in December 2019. It has since spread to 176 countries, infecting over 234,000 persons, and being responsible for over 9,800 deaths, as at last Friday, according to WHO statistics.

LIMIT
In Essequibo, another consumer said that at one supermarket, shoppers are only allowed to buy three packs of flour per person.

“I believe that supermarket owners are creating a panic in people’s mind; the fact they are limiting makes me believe there will be a shortage,” shared the consumer from Essequibo.
In light of the growing fear of running out of flour products, the National Milling Company of Guyana (NAMILCO), one of the country’s top flour producers, on Thursday issued a statement, assuring customers that there is no shortage of their products. Neither has there been any price increases.

“Namilco is advising all customers and consumers that there should be no panic- buying or hoarding of flour. We guarantee you that we have adequate quantities of all NAMILCO Thunderbolt and Maid Marian products, providing your normal pattern of buying is maintained. We have adequate quantities of all raw materials necessary to maintain production. We have not increased prices, and we are imploring sellers not to do so,” the company said in its statement.

BUSINESS AS USUAL
For many of the supermarkets in the city, however, it is business as usual.
At Bounty Supermarket on Regent Street, Branch Manager Sherwayne Clarke confirmed that he has seen an increase in purchases by customers. He also said that the supermarket is not at risk of running out of products.

“As fast as we can, we’ve been restocking the shelves. We’re trying to still provide customers with a good customer service experience,” Clarke said.
Customers are allowed to enter the supermarket and shop as usual, but the supermarket has put in place several sanitisation measures to help curtail the potential spread of viruses.

“We’ve taken several measures. We have hand sanitizers; we give staff regular breaks to wash their hands. We encourage customers to wash their hands and take precaution, if they are around anyone who is sick. We’re cleaning and disinfecting our store regularly,” Clarke shared.

At the ‘Bounty’ Stabroek Market branch, customers are offered a squirt of hand sanitizer on entry by a staff at the door. Inside, other staffers are restocking shelves just as fast as customers make their purchases.

At Beepats on Regent Street, Store Manager Shamella Applewaite said the supermarket has not instituted any limitations on the sale of groceries. However, earlier this month the company had instituted quotas on Lysol products after mass purchasing by consumers.
The company is the official authorised distributor of Lysol in Guyana, Applewaite said. She said the company is also expecting another shipment of Lysol products within the next two weeks.