Images of empty aisles have flooded social media since the federal government announced it would be activating its emergency response plan last week.
Local supermarkets are yet to experience the frenzy seen mostly in Australia’s capital cities.
“It’s been a little busy, we haven’t had a (major) influx and our shelves are still full,” a Coles Echuca worker said while it was also business as usual at IGA Echuca.
The Woolworths stores in Echuca and Moama opted not to comment but a spokesperson for the company admitted they have noticed changes in consumer behaviour in recent days.
“We’ve seen a sharp increase in demand for long life pantry items and household staples in recent days, which has led to partial stock shortages across some of our stores,” the spokesperson said.
“We’ve been working closely with our suppliers to ramp up deliveries and production to maintain stock availability for our customers.
“Like many retailers, we are currently experiencing shortages of some antibacterial hand wash and sanitiser products. We are working very closely with our suppliers to get these products back on shelves as quickly as possible.”
Professor Nigel McMillan, director of infectious diseases and immunology at the Menzies Health Institute at Griffith University in Queensland said there was no need to stockpile just yet.
“There’s no need to stockpile food, medicine, petrol or anything at this stage,” he told the Guardian Australia.
“We don’t wish to induce panic buying when, for 95 to 99 per cent of the population, this’ll be a mild cold, nothing more. Plus, once we’ve had this strain, we’ll become immune to it.”
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