Coronavirus: supermarkets cleared of essential items as Singapore raises alert level

The city state raised its alert level to orange, indicating the virus is severe and passes easily between people

Residents in Singapore stock up on food and necessities after the Singapore Ministry of Health raised its Disease Outbreak Response System Condition (DORSCON) level from yellow to orange with regards to the coronavirus outbreak, meaning that the virus is spreading but is still being contained. EPA

A Chinese woman wears a protective mask and rubber gloves as she walks by the Drum Tower in Beijing, China. Getty Images

Passengers on board a bus shortly before their departure from Tuen Mun in Hong Kong to Shenzhen, via the Shenzhen Bay Bridge. AFP

Canadian Forces personnel stand by to assist Canadians evacuated from China as they disembark from a plane at Canadian Forces Base Trenton in Trenton, Ontario, Canada. Reuters

Customers walk by an almost empty shelf of canned food and instant noodles at a supermarket in Singapore. EPA

Medical workers in protective suits are seen at the Wuhan Parlor Convention Center, which has been converted into a makeshift hospital following an outbreak of the novel coronavirus, in Wuhan, Hubei province, China. Reuters

A customer walks by an almost empty shelf of canned food and instant noodles at a supermarket in Singapore. EPA

A worker measures body temperature of people leaving a supermarket in Qingshan district following an outbreak of the novel coronavirus in Wuhan, Hubei province, China. Reuters

A volunteer helps residents who are affected by the measures to prevent and control the novel coronavirus to purchase daily necessities from a store in Tangshan, Hebei province, China. Reuters

A Chinese woman wears a protective mask as she waits for a bus in Beijing, China. Getty Images

Flight attendants wearing protective clothing and masks serve snacks to Canadians, who had been evacuated from China due to the outbreak of novel Coronavirus on an American charter plane, on another aircraft taking them to Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Trenton, from Vancouver International Airport in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. Reuters

A Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer wearing a mask checks Canadians evacuated from China. Reuters

Staff from the US embassy board a cargo plane, chartered by the US State Department to evacuate Americans and Canadians from China. Reuters

Passengers wearing masks, following the coronavirus outbreak in China, arrive at the Tom Jobim International Airport in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Reuters

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.