It was a toilet paper frenzy outside the Kelowna Costco on Wednesday morning (Mar. 11).
Dozens of people were seen with as much as ten packages of toilet paper in their shopping carts as they left the building at around 10 a.m.
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While some people were stocking up over fears of the spreading novel coronavirus, most said they went to Costco because they couldn’t find toiletry products anywhere else in the city.
“I was at the Superstore and Save On Foods yesterday and they had no toilet paper,” said one Kelowna resident who was seen leaving with five packages of toilet paper.
“The situation is that bad.”
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Another Kelowna resident, who had at least six packages of toilet paper in her shopping cart, said she was also buying it for a friend.
“I’m at Costco to buy Kirkland toilet paper, which I like because it has the big rolls,” said the woman.
“I’m buying it for my girlfriend too because she wasn’t get find any of it in Kelowna yesterday.”
Another Kelowna resident said she was buying ten packages of toilet paper for humour.
“I did this partially as a joke on my family and friends,” said the woman.
“In a situation like this, you really just have to laugh about it sometimes.”
Up the pond, Vernon’s Buy-Low Foods ran out of toilet paper last weekend after 130 cases were quickly snapped up by customers.
Toilet paper rolls are also selling for as much as $100 on Craiglist as supply at stores starts to dwindle.
On Wednesday, March 11, Canadian Prime Minister promised $1 billion in funding to help fight the spreading novel coronavirus.
So far, over 100,000 people have become infected from the virus worldwide.
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