Growing coronavirus fears have meant that people, in some instances, have been misguidedly stockpiling everyday essentials. Now, a video has gone viral on social media showing the moment Aldi shoppers descended on fresh supplies of toilet roll, stripping the shelves clean in a matter of minutes.
The footage, which was shared to Facebook on Sunday, showed hundreds of customers running through a toilet paper aisle at an Aldi store in Melbourne, Australia, in a bid to ensure they have enough supplies should a COVID-19 lockdown occur.
These are the symptoms of coronavirus:At the time of writing, the clip has gathered over 3000 reactions, 21,000 shares, and 14,000 comments on the social media platform, with many denouncing the shoppers' actions.
"Do these people have a 20 person household… why would you need any more than one pack of toilet rolls… bloody embarrassing," wrote one Facebook user, as reported by news.com.au.
Watch the incident unfold below:"The thing is that 80 per cent of these people aren’t stocking up on toilet paper because of the coronavirus, they’re rushing to buy toilet paper because they’re scared of not having toilet paper themselves because of the people panicking over the coronavirus. Which creates more hysteria because the demand for toilet paper becomes higher, introducing new people panicking over not getting toilet paper for their normal use. It’s an ironic circle of hysteria [sic]," another pointed out.
A third added: "So selfish what about the pensioners who are unable and don’t have the money to buy up big as well. Selfish [sic]."
This comes after Italy enforced a nationwide shutdown, where all 60 million residents are under restrictions, including school closures, bans on public events and travel checks.
Currently, the coronavirus has infected more than 113,000 people globally, and killed over 4,000, according to CNN.