Supermarkets in Singapore were cleared of essential items by anxious shoppers on Saturday as the country raised its alert level in response to the coronavirus outbreak.
The city-state has reported 33 cases of the new virus — the third highest number of cases outside of China, after Japan. As a result, Singapore raised its alert level to "orange" — the same as during the deadly 2003 SARS outbreak, indicating the virus is severe and passes easily between people.
The announcement prompted panic among the country’s 5.7 million population. Shoppers wearing masks rushed to shops in droves to stock up on items including rice, noodles and toilet paper, reported AFP.
Photos shared on social media showed long lines at supermarkets and shelves left bare.
"I'm afraid that if they further raise the alert level, we will not be able to go out," a 50-year-old housewife, who did not want to be named, told AFP after leaving a grocery store.
The highest level on Singapore's four-point scale for dealing with disease outbreaks is "red", one above "orange".
There were, however, ample stocks of other items such as fruit, meat, fish and alcohol.
Authorities urged residents to remain calm, saying supplies are not under threat. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Long said in a Facebook post on Saturday that how Singapore residents react to the virus outbreak “is a major test
for our nation.
“There is no need to panic,” he said. “We are not locking down the city or confining everybody to stay at home. We have ample supplies, so there is no need to stock up with instant noodles, tinned food, or toilet paper, as some people did yesterday.”
The country’s Minister of Trade and Industry, Chan Chun Sing, said residents risked depriving others with this behaviour.
“In times of uncertainty, it is natural that we want to protect ourselves and the ones that we love,” he said on Facebook.
“However I urge all of us to think of the larger communities we belong to. Hoarding means that we deprive others of things that they really need.”
Meanwhile, Kuwaiti authorities have urged citizens not to travel to Singapore. The Kuwaiti Embassy in Singapore called on citizens who had planned to travel to the city state to delay plans until "normal conditions are restored." Any Kuwaitis in Singapore have been advised to leave the country.
Singapore raised its alert level amid a growing number of virus cases in citizens with no recent travel history to mainland China and no known links to previous infections.
Hong Kong has also been hit by a wave of panic-buying in recent days as it seeks to battle the virus, with supermarket shelves frequently emptied of crucial goods.
