Fear of buying panic as cases increase in the UK

As cases begin to rise again, UK supermarkets are re-introducing purchase limits on products to stem the potential waves of panic buying.

On Friday, a national survey by the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimated that there were 9,600 new cases a day in the UK in the first week of September 19 – three times more than those taken by the tests.

This is a 60 per cent increase over the previous week, with the virus growing in London and the northwest of the UK.

It has seen Tesco ration items from supermarket companies such as toilet paper, baby wipes, flour and dry pasta.

A Tesco spokesman said: “We have good availability, lots of stocks, and we encourage our customers to shop normally.

“To ensure that everyone buys what they need, we have introduced wholesale limitations on a limited number of products.

“To help our customers shop safely, we also have co-workers at the entrances to our large stores to remind customers of the security measures we have in place, including the legal requirement to wear a face mask.”

Morrisons has already introduced rations for toilet roll and disinfectant to avoid future shortages.

“Our stock levels of these products are good, but we want to make sure they are available to everyone.”