Shutdown Fear Triggers Panic Buying In Delhi

Toiletries to noodles! Stores in city run out of supplies as people begin stockpiling

- Chayyanika Nigam

Saloni Saigal was among the first customers at Easyday Club grocery shop on IGNOU Road in South Delhi’s Saket. The homemaker would usually go there on weekends when her husband is around. But on Wednesday, she asked her son to help pick up essential items in two jute bags.

“Who knows what will happen tomorrow,” she said while snapping up toiletries, biscuits, milk, fruits, vegetables and noodles from the shelves.

The 45-year-old is only one of the thousands who have resorted to panic-buying as apprehensions of a complete shutdown loomed large in the city. Most essentials are out of stock as thousands of people are scrambling to stockpile toiletries, noodles, milk, ready-to-eat food, vegetables, cigarettes and alcohol.

The Delhi government has already shut schools, colleges, cinemas, pools, nightclubs, spas, gyms, weekly markets, social, religious and political gatherings.

There have been 18 cases of Coronavirus so far in the region: Delhi (10), Gurugram (2), Noida (4) and Ghaziabad (2). The National Capital has also seen its first COVID-19 death, while hundreds of suspects have been quarantined.

“The disease is spreading. Super markets in some malls have shut. We see advisories daily. What if there is a complete lockdown soon? We need to be prepared,” Saigal said.

The number of people infected with COVID19 rose to 151 in the country with one each case reported from Gurugram and Noida on Wednesday.

Like elsewhere in the country, apart from adopting measures like social distancing and work from home, people have also started stockpiling basic necessary items in Delhi-NCR to prevent themselves from being infected.