Coronavirus: Medical association warns against panic buying

A dearth of medical supplies and hygiene products prompts a warning from the AMA and a plea for people to stay calm.

Empty shelves in a supermarket in Sydney’s north. Picture: Twitter

The Australian Medical Association has urged people against panic-buying to stockpile for coronavirus, following social media pictures of bare supermarket shelves.

The AMA’s president, Dr Tony Bartone, said the public’s reaction was unnecessary.

“There is an enormous amount of misinformation and almost fear,” the AMA vice president Tony Bartone told the ABC on Monday.

“There’s no reason to go out and panic buy almost bunker-level materials.”

He said there had been a shortage of medical supplies such as gloves and masks.

“We need to ensure that there is no breakdown in that supply chain to the frontline healthcare staff. They’re going to be crucial in the response over coming weeks and months.”

Over the weekend, shoppers cleared out supermarket shelves in Sydney’s north, with the toilet paper aisles almost bare.

A spokeswoman for Coles said the company had increased the number of its deliveries to cater for the surge in demand for pantry and healthcare products.

“Like many retailers, we currently have a shortage of some antibacterial handwashes and hand sanitiser products due to high customer demand. We are continuing to work with our suppliers to maintain availability for customers.”

Some Australians are capitalising on the shortage by selling hand sanitiser on Facebook’s marketplace platform. One Sydney seller, described a hand sanitiser as “great for coronavirus.”

Last week, Scott Morrison announced the activation of a pandemic plan in Australia. It provides a blueprint for states and territories on how to deal with coronavirus. Additional screenings for incoming flights from multiple countries will be launched and contingency plans established for aged-care facilities.

The Health Minister also said the government would stockpile medical resources to ensure there was no shortage of personal protective equipment in the country’s hospitals and medical centres.

Australia has recorded 29 infections, including a Perth man who died on the weekend after contracting the virus on the Diamond Princess cruise in Japan. Worldwide, there are more than 89,000 cases and more than 3000 deaths.