As Singapore raised its response to the coronavirus outbreak to Orange yesterday (8 February), many Singaporeans began to panic, fearing for the worst to come.
In case you missed it, under DORSCON, or Disease Outbreak Response System Condition, Code Orange means the outbreak is deemed to have moderate to high public impact, according to The Star. Singapore’s Ministry of Health had also announced that they are introducing additional measures “to minimise the risk of further transmission of the virus in the community”.
Source: Gov.sg
Last night, photos and live updates circulated on social media, showing how various supermarkets were heavily crowded with people who want to hoard necessities in case “anything bad” happens.
Source: Mothership.sg
Source: Mothership.sg
Within a day, most dry and canned foods like noodles, pasta, rice were snapped up, the same goes to other necessities like toilet paper, according to Mothership. The payment queue stretched from the counter all the way to the end of the supermarket (frozen food section) when it was only 8:20 pm.
A photo had gone viral because the condom shelf was also almost emptied! Nobody knows exactly what condoms have to do with the heightened DORSCON level but netizens think this is kind of funny. Many guessed that bedroom activity will increase when people spend more time at home for self-quarantine.
Source: SG Bargain Queen’s Facebook
One of the supermarkets, Fair Price, reassured the Singaporeans that they absolutely do not need to panic or hoard necessities because there’s still plenty of stock in their warehouse.
Seeing how our neighbouring country is in a panic, Malaysians can definitely relate especially when we’re looking for surgical masks and hand sanitisers. Even until today, admin is still unable to find these two items and their racks at pharmacies are definitely empty.
Hoarding things this way is just another way of fear-mongering, and it’s definitely still too early to panic. Instead of worrying about things running out of stock, we should really do our part by buying just the things that we need. And keep washing your hands and stay hydrated, guys.
Also read: Face Masks Ineffective Against Coronavirus, Keeping Hands Clean Is Best Prevention Method
