Salmon Arm retailers are rolling with the increased demand for toilet paper amid concerns around the spread of COVID-19.
Over the March 7-9 weekend, stores throughout the community saw run on bathroom tissue, with shelves being near depleted.
鈥淲e got some in today, and our supplier warehouse is working hard to get more in鈥�,鈥� said Brad Housden of Brad鈥檚 No Frills on Monday, March 9. 鈥淲e should be alright. I think people are just panicking for nothing to be honest. But right now, we have stock.鈥�
Housden said he was expecting more toilet paper to arrive on March 11.
It was a different story, however, with another much-sought after product: hand sanitizer.
鈥淭hat one will be out for a while, and disinfectants, we will be out for a while,鈥� said Housden. 鈥淯ntil our warehouse gives us an update, we鈥檙e just out of stock.鈥�
Rolls of TP can still be purchased at Uptown Askew鈥檚, though heightened demand throughout the province did have an impact on resupply Monday with part of an anticipated order being shorted.
鈥淥bviously, people are trying to stockpile and it鈥檚 affecting our supply,鈥� said Turner. 鈥淧eople are creating the issue by overbuying, by buying more than they actually need.鈥�
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Turner said the uptown store is also having trouble acquiring hand sanitizer, and their supplier has limited the number of saniwipes they can get at one time.
鈥淲hat people need to understand is that washing your hands properly with soap and warm water will do just as good, if not better a job at cleaning your hands properly than sanitizer,鈥� said Turner, adding proper hand drying is equally important.
Toilet paper was also flying off the shelves at Salmon Arm鈥檚 Shoppers Drug Mart, in addition to sanitizer, Lysol wipes, bleach and zinc lozenges.
鈥淎nd masks 鈥� you cannot get masks 鈥� not that they do anything for you because they don鈥檛,鈥� said front store manager Sandi Holmgren. 鈥淟ike they鈥檙e saying, all the masks do is if you鈥檙e sick, it keeps other people from getting it. But it鈥檚 not going to help you.鈥�
Regarding toilet paper, Holmgren said they still have product available, with more expected to arrive Wednesday.
Holmgren鈥檚 advice to the panic-buying populace: just breathe 鈥� and wash your hands.
鈥淲ash your hands 鈥� don鈥檛 be hugging and touching people unless you know them really well, and just wash your hands,鈥� said Holmgren. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a virus, like any other virus, the only problem is we don鈥檛 have a vaccine for it. So if you do have a compromised immune system, it can be very dangerous. But just treat it as a virus and do what you would normally do.鈥�
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