But according to Ripley, in most cases what’s happening is about supply management, not supply shortage. The store has imposed limits on some products, capping how many an individual can buy at a time. “Many things at Costco were down.”īob Ripley manages the Dimond Boulevard Costco. “I was at Costco the other day where people were stocking up on lots of things,” she said. She said she’d noticed a shift in behavior among shoppers earlier in week. She’d already given up on finding hand sanatizer on this shopping trip, so she’d picked up a bottle of rubbing alcohol. Shirley Saucerman, a nutritional psychiatrist who works with elderly patients, was squinting into the Fred Meyer first aid section Wednesday morning, looking for a thermometer, but with no luck. Inside, a sign posted on the self check-out read: “Due to high demand and to support all customers, we will be limiting the number of Sanitation, Cold and Flu related products to 5 each per customer.” A weary clerk kept an eye on people’s carts, asking those who had taken too much DayQuil or bleach wipes to put some back.Ī note was posted on the self-check out at Fred Meyer, warning people not to purchase more than their share of cleaning or cold and flu products in Midtown Anchorage on Wednesday, March 4. In the parking lot at Fred Meyer in Midtown Anchorage, shoppers pushed carts piled high with toilet paper, rice, and cases of water. “We looked on Amazon Prime, we were going to order some, and they had like three 8oz bottles anywhere between $44 and $99 for three-packs. Read our continuing coverage of coronavirus in AlaskaĪs she hunted for hand sanitizer, Williams said she had considered ordering online, but was shocked by the “price gouging” she saw. According to Gray, that’s largely because the problem isn’t about supply, it’s about individuals overbuying.
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There is no worry at this point about supply lines, she said, and the city is not coordinating with local retailers on supplies. Sanitizing wipes were nearly sold out at Fred Meyer in Midtown Anchorage Wednesday as shoppers stocked up over concerns about coronavirus. And maybe you buy two extra, but maybe not 10 extra.” Understand you’re part of a collective, though. “If you want to get a couple extra hand sanitizers, I think that’s great. “I hate to use the term hoarding,” said Audrey Gray, an emergency programs manager for the Municipality of Anchorage. Store owners in Anchorage have been limiting sales of certain things and public health officials are struggling to get the message out that it’s practical to have two weeks of supplies on hand, but there is no need to stockpile. While people in communities where the virus is spreading face elevated risk, it’s still “relatively low,” the CDC said, and serious illness appears to occur in about 15 percent of cases. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say the immediate health risk from COVID-19 is still considered low for most of the American public, who are unlikely to be exposed to the coronavirus. Related: The state has tested 4 people for coronavirus, 2 tests are pending, testing approach is “phased,” medical officer says There are no confirmed cases in Alaska, but in stores across Anchorage, toilet paper, water, rice and cold medicine were flying off of shelves, evidence of growing anxiety about what might happen next. Just everybody’s out,” she said.Ĭalifornia reported its first coronavirus death Wednesday.
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We’ve been to all the Walgreens, all the Fred Meyers. Everything: water, paper towel, everything.
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We were at Costco yesterday, they’re completely cleaned out. “We’ve been to all of ’em, including the restaurant supplies. (Julia O’Malley/Alaska Public Media)Īlthough she lives in Wasilla, Ann Williams was on a city-wide tour of Anchorage stores Wednesday, looking for one very specific thing: hand sanitizer. The store was sold out of sanitizer, as were many stores in Anchorage, over concerns about the coronavirus. The hand sanitizer bin at Fred Meyer in Midtown Anchorage sits empty on March 4, 2020.