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Hong Kongers Scramble for Scarce Necessities Amid Coronavirus Outbreak

Verna Yu

   HONG KONG - There is increasing anxiety in Hong Kong over the
   coronavirus outbreak, as citizens began camping outside shops overnight
   this week in the hope of buying surgical masks while others snapped up
   household necessities from rice to toilet rolls.

   Shelves for toilet paper, tissues, kitchen towels, cleaning wipes and
   other paper products in supermarkets across Hong Kong were mostly empty
   Thursday morning after people bought them all the night before, largely
   thanks to an online rumor that China would stop manufacturing toilet
   paper for the next two weeks.

   "These black-clad young people who say they are against China -- look
   at this now! If China stops exporting stuff here, where would we get
   our necessities from?" yelled an elderly woman in front of rows of
   empty shelves where paper products are usually placed in a supermarket.
   She was referring to demonstrators who have been staging
   anti-government protests over the past few months in Hong Kong's
   ongoing political crisis.

   There is also panic buying on rice -- a staple food for Hong Kongers --
   packet noodles and vitamins, leaving the shelves eerily empty, although
   there was no shortage of meat and vegetables in shops.

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