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Panic-buying causes fight in Woolworths due to Coronavirus fears

Retail 13 March 2020

A video has gone viral this week of a group of women pushing, yelling and fighting over a jumbo packet of toilet paper amid panic buying caused by the coronavirus.

The incident took place inside a Woolworths supermarket in Sydney, Australia and currently, the nation is experiencing shortage of toilet paper to a point where certain stories are only allowing customers to buy a single pack of the prized paper per transaction – both in-store and online.

Woolworths stated that it has enforced a four-packs-per-customer restriction last week.

The incident was one of a number reported at Australian supermarkets as the desperation for toilet paper.

The video showed one woman punching another at least once as a nearby crowd screams in astonishment.

Clinging to grocery bags alongside a trolley loaded with toilet paper, the two women scream wildly as they throw punches and pull each other’s hair.

“I just want one pack,” one screams, aggressively shaking and pointing her finger.

“No, not one pack,” another replies as she begs with the woman to leave her daughter alone.

Another, who attempts to calm the scuffle down, calmly says to one of the women, “think about what you’re doing”.

Another customer is also heard asking "what's the limit?", a reference to the limit on how much toilet paper can be bought in a single transaction.

The staff step in to break the fight and according to New South Wales police, the two women, aged 23 and 60, were issued court attendance notices for affray "following an altercation at a supermarket". They are due to appear at a local court on April 28.

Currently, in South Africa, panic buying has slowly started to take place as many stores are experiencing many purchases of hand sanitiser, masks and surgical gloves.

No fighting incidents have been reported but the virus is still in the early numbers as only 17 positive cases have been confirmed.

Below is a video of the fight supplied by Sky News Australia.

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