Shopping Scramble: Govt. Needs To Rethink Rules, Say Retail Experts

Yesterday's scramble to buy essentials, with long queues forming in humid weather, has prompted experts to urge the Government to rethink how it balances COVID-19 countermeasures with normality for citizens.

Despite knowing in advance that the imposition of curfew at 12 noon yesterday was not practical, the Government went ahead, only to postpone curfew until 2.00 pm. The extension came too late, with thousands of people queueing up outside supermarkets from the early hours of the day, and latecomers having to weather the heat. By 2.00 p.m., not all had succeeded in buying essentials, and many went home emptyhanded.

In the city and suburbs, queuing up and shopping was orderly, but physical distancing was forgotten in markets frequented by working class citizens, such as Manning Market and other people’s markets, reinforcing the Health authorities’ concerns.

The Government has not yet announced the next round of curfew-free hours within which people may buy essentials, a step that many experts suggest the State should take. Others noted the Government could have enabled shopping on a staggered basis, area by area, on a daily basis, so as to ease the scramble and panic-buying.

Retail industry specialists said the Government should allow supermarkets and small groceries to be open until evening, even during curfew hours, as in some other lockeddown cities and countries.