Shoppers panic buying once again
Water and toilet paper continue to be hot commodities - News 11's Arlette Yousif reports
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - As coronavirus rates and breakthrough COVID-19 cases are on the rise, locals stock up on necessities and hunker down again.
If you've been to Sam's Club recently, you probably noticed the "limit one" sign above cases of water and toilet-paper stock.
One Sam's Club employee said the shelves were empty just a day before restocking. Costco is also re-implementing purchase limits. At the height of the pandemic last year, toilet paper was the highest in demand.
One shopper says not again!
"I think they’re getting paranoid again. I’m not gonna do it this time. There was a ration last time and people had excess of amount of items and didn’t leave anything for the everyday people, so I’m not doing it," says shopper Tiffany Ramirez.
She’s not the only one who thinks it shouldn’t happen.
"I just think it’s ridiculous what people do like that and it just hurts the other person. You know, greedy," explains shopper Charlene Harrell.
Some say it is okay to stock up, just not excessively.
"I believe it’s okay to prepare yourself with water, but not with a lot of toilet paper. I think there are other important priorities," says shopper Maria Martinez.
"People need to just, I mean they need to take caution, but they need to, they need not to go overboard about it," explains shopper Peggy Burgess.
Some people haven't even used the items they bought at the beginning of the pandemic.
"I have like lots of beans, lots of rice and it’s just too much. I’m starting to give it away already," says Ramirez.
So far, sanitizing products such as disinfecting wipes, spray and bleach are still available in reasonable amounts.
Meanwhile, some items have been in and out of stock periodically, including certain brands of soup and oat milk. Although there are supply concerns, shelves at Walmart seem to be maintaining some products, even with some empty spaces.
