Lockdown sends shoppers into a frenzy in Greater Brisbane

Former Broncos skipper Darius Boyd has been spotted among the shoppers as panic buying descends on Brisbane ahead of a three-day lockdown. SEE BUYING LIMITS

Marcel Baum, Sophie Chirgwin, Bianca Hrovat, Cormac Pearson and Elise Williams

4 min read

March 29, 2021 - 5:21PM

Shoppers line up amid panic buying ahead of Brisbane lockdown

QLD News

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A nine-month pregnant woman has been run into with a trolley by a shopper “desperate to get flour” as panic buying grips a frenzied Brisbane following the announcement of a three-day lockdown.

Long lines are snaking around corners within supermarkets and out the door to get into to some, with supermarket managers saying they’re swamped.

Queues of up to an hour have been reported for shoppers to reach the checkouts.

Toilet paper shelves soon emptied at Newmarket Coles after the lockdown announcement.

Woolworths has placed limitations on some grocery items and staff at some stores are limiting the number of shoppers in at a time.

SCROLL DOWN FOR LIST OF GROCERY LIMITS

Following Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s announcement that greater Brisbane will go into a three-day lockdown from 5pm today due to COVID-19 protocols, shoppers have done the opposite of what authorities advised and streamed to their local shops.

Ms Palaszczuk confirmed this morning people will still be able to leave their home for essential work, to look after a vulnerable person, for exercise and to buy food.

People in the Greater Brisbane area were urged not to panic buy

The bare shelves at Newmarket Coles.

“It is just like last time,” a bayside Coles staff member, who wished not to be named, said.

“When are they going to realise it is not necessary? It is just ridiculous.”

Victoria Point Shopping Centre Woolworths was so busy at the time of writing that phone calls went unanswered and management at Coles, in the same centre, politely declined calls to the media because all hands were on deck “directing traffic” in stores being swamped.

Similar scenes were scene elsewhere.

Former Brisbane Bronco Darius Boyd is caught up in the panic buying at Woolworths Gasworks in Brisbane’s Newstead. Picture: Liam Kidston

Shoppers waiting to get the registers at Moorooka: Source: Facebook

A shopper at Arana Hills, currently nine months pregnant, urged her community to stay calm and friendly after being struck by a careless shopper vying for flour.

The tide of warnings and pleas for measured shopping were echoed around the greater Brisbane region.

Ness Cleary Crawford said the following: “Alex Hills shops carpark is manic. I live across the road and people block our driveway.

Please stop.”

Empty toilet paper shelves at Woolworths in Chermside Shopping Centre. Picture: Brad Fleet

And this from Jody Treloar in north Brisbane: “They are lined up out the door at Margate.”

And Samii Kembrey lamented with the following: “Three-day lockdown and people buy three years’ worth of food, toilet paper etc.”

And this from a frustrated Megan Brown: “Panic buying at Kippa Ring Coles too; far out. It’s three days; calm down.”

Greater Brisbane to be plunged into 72-hour lockdown from tonight

Locals in Coorparoo reported up to a one-hour wait to get inside Woolworths this morning.

Another shopper said she was in Coles at Alderley as the lockdown announcement was made, with the supermarket turning from calm to chaos within minutes.

Coles at Alderley soon filled with shoppers as the lockdown announcement was being made. Picture: Supplied

She said some shoppers were fighting for toilet rolls less than 45 minutes after the announcement was made.

The line to enter Woolworths in North Lakes looked more like a gathering for a rock concert as shoppers wanting only “bread and milk” contended with trolleys brimming with toilet paper.

Woolworths staff were limiting the number of people entering the North Lakes store.

At Mango Hill, more than 50 customers were queuing to enter Coles.

While supermarkets were full the public seemed to be staying away from shopping centres, as seen by this near-empty car park at Chermside Shopping Centre. Picture: Brad Fleet

The scenes comes after Ms Palaszczuk took to Twitter earlier today to again urge people not to panic, following her initial plea at a press conference.

“Please don’t rush out and panic buy,” she wrote.

“The supermarkets are full of supplies and will operate as per usual.

“Groceries and essentials will still be available while we’re in lockdown.”

Shoppers queue outside and around the corner at Arana Hills: Source: Facebook

It comes as Queensland recorded 10 new COVID-19 cases overnight.

Four of the new cases were locally acquired and are part of the new cluster of the highly contagious UK-strain that emerged late last week.

One of the new cases had travelled to Gladstone from March 25 to 28.

Six of today’s 10 cases were detected in hotel quarantine, prompting the Premier to reduce international arrivals.

The lockdown will include the council areas of Brisbane, Moreton Bay, Logan, Redlands and Ipswich.

The lockdown means schools will close, except to vulnerable children or the children of essential workers, and face masks will be mandatory across Greater Brisbane, although not while driving.

This morning’s panic buying has prompted Woolworths to reinstate limits on grocery items.

Antibacterial wipes, toilet paper, tissues and frozen fruits and vegetables are among the list of supplies to be limited to two per shopper.

Long lines are starting to build outside Coles Newmarket as supermarkets prepare for a busy afternoon.

Fresh bread, eggs and milk, as well as various meat and poultry items are also on the list, while a 2kg limit on deli items applies.

Woolworths’ Queensland general manager Chris Peters said limits had been imposed to ensure all customers had access to necessities during the lockdown.

“We understand this will be an unsettling time for many Queenslanders, but we want to reassure customers we will remain open as an essential service,” he said.

“We have continued access to stock from our suppliers and our team will be hard at work making sure it flows from our distribution centres into our stores over the coming days.

“We encourage Queenslanders to continue shopping as they usually would and to be mindful of others in the community.”

Panic buying begins at Kenmore: Source: Facebook

Additional monitoring of social distancing will also be put in place by teams at Woolworths stores in the greater Brisbane area, while extra resources will be deployed to support with additional cleaning and wiping down of trolleys.

“As always, we ask our customers to follow all social distancing and hygiene measures while shopping in our stores,” Mr Peters said.

“Please treat our team and each other with respect as we work through this together.”