topic Re: A Seriou Question in Community Chat

A Seriou Question

SuhseK — Tue, 10 Mar 2020 20:48:51 GMT

Never, have I heard, that Coronavirus, causes diarrhea, or GI illness, so WHY 🤪are people buying and hoarding toilet

paper???

And water? Do they expect water mains to break? The water supply to be corrupted?

I was recently in the Vancouver, WA area, my Sister called Every Costco, in the Vancouver/Portland area. None of them had TP in stock. They were getting deliveries daily.
They told her to be at the store, by 10am, because,they sod out, in about 45 minutes!

Why, TP😳

Re: A Seriou Question

Anonymous032819 — Tue, 10 Mar 2020 20:50:57 GMT

They're convinced that they are going to be quarantined for a month or more.

Re: A Seriou Question

judy0330 — Tue, 10 Mar 2020 20:53:20 GMT

CNN online had a long article about this yesterday. Google:

"The psychology behind why toilet paper, of all things, is the latest coronavirus panic buy"

Re: A Seriou Question

golding76 — Tue, 10 Mar 2020 20:55:59 GMT

Odd you should ask your question today, SusheK, because for the first time -- today -- I read that COVID-19 can cause diarrhea and gastro-intestinal problems. I don't remember what the source was, though.

When my family bought a supply of TP after the virus's appearance, it was from fear of having a disruption in the supply, not because of the thought of using an inordinately large number of rolls in the future.

Re: A Seriou Question

golding76 — Tue, 10 Mar 2020 20:55:03 GMT

Found this online now:

Patients with COVID-19 may experience GI symptoms, possible fecal-oral transmission

March 6, 2020

Re: A Seriou Question

Drythe — Tue, 10 Mar 2020 20:59:52 GMT

@SuhseK

There have been several recent posts about this. You might want to look them up, they may still be open.

Re: A Seriou Question

Kachina624 — Tue, 10 Mar 2020 21:09:11 GMT

The coronavirus is supposed to be a respiratory illness. I haven't heard a word about intestinal problems. Nobody seems to know why there's a run on TP.

Re: A Seriou Question

Mominohio — Tue, 10 Mar 2020 21:09:18 GMT

It's about possible need for the virus, but more about fear of supply interruptions and inability to get out to purchase anything during a quarantine situation.

Re: A Seriou Question

FlyersGirl — Tue, 10 Mar 2020 21:24:41 GMT

@Mominohio wrote:
It's about possible need for the virus, but more about fear of supply interruptions and inability to get out to purchase anything during a quarantine situation.

Exactly. People are stocking up in anticipation of quarantine.

There are 8 confirmed cases in the county that I live in. 2 confirmed in the town next to mine. MANY schools have closed due to possibile exposure, with the intent of reopening once cleaned, but that is not a definite. Many activities are cancelled. A local St. Paddy's day parade has been cancelled. The lead county commissioner had a news conference today advising that older adults, aged 60 and over, should do everything that they can to avoid large crowds, avoid going out unless absolutely a critcal need. Stock up on shelf stable food and paper products and prepare to be homebound for 2 weeks to 1 month.

When this is the information/directive provided by local authorities, people are listening. It could be an overabundance of caution, but I know I don't want to take any chances.

Re: A Seriou Question

suzyQ3 — Tue, 10 Mar 2020 21:28:20 GMT

I thought it was fairly obvious that people want to be prepared if they are unable to get to a market for whatever reason. It could be a quarantine or lockdown, it could be to avoid public places, or it could be that one becomes sick.

This is not what I call panic, unless someone is filling up their whole house wall to wall it TP. In that case, we're dealing with something beyond panic.

Re: A Seriou Question

santorini — Tue, 10 Mar 2020 21:35:01 GMT

Yes, it's a fear of having to be in your house for a week or two with no access to the outside world. I was able to buy the family size enormo-pack (45 rolls) at Sam's online today and it had free shipping. Try there if you get desperate. The story seems to be on the news every night and they show bare shelves all over town. The TP manufacturer employees are probably being asked to rack up overtime trying to handle all of the requests!

Edited to add: I was also able to buy some disinfecting wipes through Sams.com. I was happy about that but just now received an email from Sam's telling me that my order for the wipes had been cancelled because of low supply. Oh well, you might want to ignore my suggestion to order your TP from Sam's!

Re: A Seriou Question

Jordan2 — Tue, 10 Mar 2020 21:40:28 GMT

@SuhseK wrote:
Never, have I heard, that Coronavirus, causes diarrhea, or GI illness, so WHY 🤪are people buying and hoarding toilet
paper???

And water? Do they expect water mains to break? The water supply to be corrupted?

I was recently in the Vancouver, WA area, my Sister called Every Costco, in the Vancouver/Portland area. None of them had TP in stock. They were getting deliveries daily.
They told her to be at the store, by 10am, because,they sod out, in about 45 minutes!

Why, TP😳

I think people just get frightened, they buy up what they feel are necessities.

Re: A Seriou Question

Mimi NY — Tue, 10 Mar 2020 21:45:12 GMT

@SuhseK wrote:
Never, have I heard, that Coronavirus, causes diarrhea, or GI illness, so WHY 🤪are people buying and hoarding toilet
paper???

And water? Do they expect water mains to break? The water supply to be corrupted?

I was recently in the Vancouver, WA area, my Sister called Every Costco, in the Vancouver/Portland area. None of them had TP in stock. They were getting deliveries daily.
They told her to be at the store, by 10am, because,they sod out, in about 45 minutes!

Why, TP😳

Suhsek Thank you for asking this question because I was so stumped on WHY did I keep seeing on my New York news sell out of toilet paper & water .Now I think I am getting a better understanding if I heard about symptoms I would had understood the toilet paper but guess no one wanted to talk about that.

Hope your sister was able to get her supply of toilet paper.

But water is still a WHY still not understanding reason for that.

I am keeping more can foods on the shelf,not buying any items prepared in stores by workers for awhile.

Hope everyone stays safe and remember to wash their hands more then ever.

Re: A Seriou Question

Cakers3 — Tue, 10 Mar 2020 21:46:00 GMT

Re: A Seriou Question

suzyQ3 — Tue, 10 Mar 2020 21:48:50 GMT

@Mimi NY wrote:
@SuhseK wrote:
Never, have I heard, that Coronavirus, causes diarrhea, or GI illness, so WHY 🤪are people buying and hoarding toilet
paper???

And water? Do they expect water mains to break? The water supply to be corrupted?

I was recently in the Vancouver, WA area, my Sister called Every Costco, in the Vancouver/Portland area. None of them had TP in stock. They were getting deliveries daily.
They told her to be at the store, by 10am, because,they sod out, in about 45 minutes!

Why, TP😳
Suhsek Thank you for asking this question because I was so stumped on WHY did I keep seeing on my New York news sell out of toilet paper & water .Now I think I am getting a better understanding if I heard about symptoms I would had understood the toilet paper but guess no one wanted to talk about that.
Hope your sister was able to get her supply of toilet paper.
But water is still a WHY still not understanding reason for that.
I am keeping more can foods on the shelf,not buying any items prepared in stores by workers for awhile.
Hope everyone stays safe and remember to wash their hands more then ever.

@Mimi NY, some people drink only bottled water.

Re: A Seriou Question

nana59 — Tue, 10 Mar 2020 21:53:54 GMT

i'm saving my newspapers!! back to basics!! LOL.........

Re: A Seriou Question

santorini — Tue, 10 Mar 2020 21:57:49 GMT

As to the water situation, I was thinking the reason that MY area had shortages is because of a recent freak accident in town where an 8' diameter main water pipe was broken by a construction worker. It caused flooding and disrupted the entire City's water supply for days. We were all under a "boil water" warning and everyone dashed out to find bottled water. The shelves were empty all over town. We didn't even have time to recoup from that when the coronavirus scare hit. From the stories I'm hearing here, though, the water is out in lots of places in the country and not just in my big Texas town.

Re: A Seriou Question

Mom2Dogs — Tue, 10 Mar 2020 21:59:44 GMT

Panic mode. I don't understand it but some people have anxiety and this may cause them to hoard items.

Re: A Seriou Question

suzyQ3 — Tue, 10 Mar 2020 22:13:26 GMT

@Mom2Dogs wrote:
Panic mode. I don't understand it but some people have anxiety and this may cause them to hoard items.

Keep in mind that shortages don't necessarily mean panic or hoarding, @Mom2Dogs. When you have large numbers of concerned people, shelves can quickly become empty.

I have enough TP and paper towels that would last me for a couple of weeks. That's just how I roll (pun intended). But I bet most people have only enough until their next week's shopping.

So if those people are now deciding to do as I do, yes, it might deplete the stock.

Re: A Seriou Question

Sooner — Wed, 11 Mar 2020 03:18:41 GMT

I don't see a big mystery here. We bought more than usual in case either one of us gets sick and we are housebound for some time.

If a lot of other people around town are sick and people think a lot of the TP comes from China, I think they are worried about the supply chain.

Also, if you are sick, you usually use more. Sometimes it gets used instead of tissue if you run out of that.