Sri Lanka’s retailers of essential commodities and food items will be soon experiencing a shortage of basic items because shoppers are stockpiling as fears grow over the spread of corona virus after the detection of the second Covid-19 patient in the island on Thursday 12.
If anyone is attempting to instill fear and increase the prices of goods, then the government can seize those stocks under the Quarantine and Prevention of Diseases Ordinance,” Minister Bandula Gunawardena said.
Panic buying was rampant in supermarkets and shops in Colombo and suburban areas and their shelves became empty within few hours last night and this evening, eye witnesses said.
The combination of fear, urgency and perceived scarcity creates a sense of urgency and leads people to over-buy, that is buying more supplies than they really need, just to be on the safe side.
This can create real shortages because people buy more than they need. So, the fear of scarcity can create real scarcities.
Customers are taking precautionary measures in purchasing more products for their household.
Due to this unprecedented demand, there are high off-take products at many stores. It is time every one need to act as responsible citizens, head of leading supermarket chain said.
He noted that the empty shelves are due to unprecedented sales during a very short period and the logistics are in place.
He said that he is very confident that it will normalize soon, once the buying patterns return to normal.
(LI)