Panic buying has hit New York with anxious shoppers clearing supermarket shelves as they stock up on food and medical supplies after a woman became the state’s first confirmed coronavirus case.
People started stockpiling items from stores over the weekend as authorities confirmed on Sunday that a healthcare worker in her 30s had been diagnosed with coronavirus.
The number of cases across the U.S. soared to 86 over the weekend with two confirmed death from the virus.
The two coronavirus-related deaths were confirmed in Washington state and included a resident at the Life Care Center nursing home and a patient at the EvergreenHealth hospital.
The spread of the disease, which began in China and has seen more than 89,000 cases worldwide and over 3,000 fatalities, prompted panic-buying ever since health authorities warned that Americans should start preparing for domestic acceleration of the virus.
Videos have emerged on social media of shoppers rushing to stock up on toilet paper, bottled water, disinfectant wipes and sanitizer at a Costco in Brooklyn.
People were also seen scrambling to get hold of food at a Chinese supermarket in Queens on Sunday.
In one social media video shoppers were seen stocking up on food at a Costco store in Flushing, Queens, on Sunday
Supermarket shelves are starting to be emptied as people prepare for the spread of coronavirus in New York. Pictured are shoppers on Sunday
Customers queuing outside a Costco in Brooklyn, waiting to get inside due to the amount of people already in the store on Saturday
Pictures of empty shelves at grocery stores elsewhere in New York also emerged on the weekend.
Elsewhere in the US, such as California, Hawaii and Minnesota have also seen a run on essential items.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo confirmed that the first coronavirus patient in New York was a woman who has currently isolated herself at her Manhattan home.
A statement from the Cuomo’s office revealed the patient, an unidentified woman in her late 30s, contracted COVID-19 while traveling in Iran.
At least 86 patients in the US have now been confirmed to have coronavirus, after one was reported in Rhode Island and a fifth ‘unknown’ origin case was found in Chicago on Sunday.
Cuomo admitted that the deadly virus’ entrance into New York’s population of 19 million was a ‘matter of when, not if.’
On Saturday, America’s top doctor begged people to stop panic-buying face masks, fearing a shortage could cause an even bigger threat if medical facilities could not access the product.
Surgeon General Dr Jerome Adams tweeted: ‘Seriously people – STOP Buying MASKS! They are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching #Coronavirus, but if healthcare providers can’t get them to care for sick patients, it puts them and our communities at risk!’
‘The best way to protect yourself and your community is with everyday preventive actions, like staying home when you are sick and washing hands with soap and water, to help slow the spread of respiratory illness.
Shoppers were seen in a video posted on Twitter panic-buying at a Chinese supermarket in Flushing, Queens on Sunday
Shoppers rushed to stock-up on essential items at supermarkets across the US. Pictured are customers in New York on Sunday
Empty shelves were seen at some supermarkets in New York as fear of the spread of coronavirus gripped the city
The number of Americans diagnosed with the virus has hit 77 over the weekend, but has now climbed to 86
Panic buying in the United States does not yet resembles what Italy witnessed in recent days – where supermarket shelves were stripped bare and videos posted on social media showed consumers coming to blows over bags of pasta.
But there is a growing sense of urgency for people to stock up on staples and to prepare for lengthy home quarantines.
‘I’m buying some flu therapy and pain killers – If I wait until next week there may be nothing left,’ said Dean McKnight, a engineer in Austin, Texas, as he motioned to shelves at the HEB supermarket that were empty of several over-the-counter medications, primarily flu treatment for children.
McKnight worked in Hong Kong and China during the SARS outbreak and knows first-hand the stresses that snowballing fears of a pandemic can cause, but said he is not panicked.
He added: ‘We got an extra month’s worth of inhalers for my wife, but we’re not stocking up on medications or food as if we expect to need to secure several months of supplies right now.’
Panic purchasing has been seen of masks and other personal protective gear. But there is also a looming threat to retail across the board, analysts said.
Several major retailers – including Walmart and Target – stand to see supply chains badly hit by the coronavirus and that could result in some empty store shelves starting in April, Ed Kelly, an analyst at Wells Fargo Securities, wrote in a research note this month.
Empty shelves at a grocery store in New York. Shoppers have been stock-piling essential items over the weekend amid fears of the spreading virus
Over the weekend pictures of empty shelves at grocery stores in New York emerged. Panic purchasing has been seen of masks and other personal protective gear as well as food items
Reports said a woman in Manhattan is currently being isolated in her home. Pictured (above) are people wearing masks and buying hand sanitizer in Queens, New York, on Sunday
Kelly wrote: ‘We believe the time to start worrying about the supply chain risk of 2019-nCoV is here.
‘It’s worth noting that big box players like Target and Walmart could be the first to experience out of stock issues.’
That is because those stores operate on a just-in-time inventory model, and are highly dependent on China, where supply chains have been badly disrupted.
Stockpiling in states like Hawaii and Minnesota was spurred by messages from state health departments urging residents to buy supplies of non-perishable foods, prescription medications and sanitary supplies.
The advice contradicted the message from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
CDC Director Robert Redfield on Thursday told a US congressional hearing that there was no need for healthy Americans to stock up on any supplies.
Robyn Gershon, a clinical professor of epidemiology at New York University, said: ‘We should have one unified message. When there’s an absence of a good, strong and reassuring official voice, people will get more upset and start doing this magical thinking.’
On Friday in Honolulu, Hawaii, retired telecommunications worker Duane Tanouye, 62, waited in line outside a Costco with more than 200 other people.
‘Nobody’s really panicking, but there’s a lot more people than normal,’ Tanouye said by phone.
Stores in Hawaii had begun limiting how much consumers could buy of some products, such as toilet paper, he said.
Zhang Bin, right, walks with a friend along a street, both wearing protective masks in the Koreatown section of Los Angeles on Friday
Worried families blast Washington nursing home where one man has died from coronavirus and 50 more are ill for ‘not testing patients and ignoring phone calls’ – as it emerges facility has history of failing to control the spread of illness
The Washington state nursing home where the second US man died from coronavirus was a resident was slammed by worried families as it emerged the facility had a history of failing to control the spread of illnesses.
Other relatives of residents claimed their phone calls were not be anserwed by staff as their concerns mounted.
Six coronavirus cases were confirmed at the Life Care Center in Kirkland, including the resident in his 70s who later died at hospital.
More than 50 staff and residents have shown symptoms and will be tested, officials said on Sunday.
The man in his 70s had underlying health conditions and died at the EvergreenHealth hospital in on Saturday.
This is the same hospital where a man in his 50s died on Friday night to become the US’s first coronavirus-related death.
Medics and other healthcare workers transferring a patient on a stretcher to an ambulance at the Life Care Center nursing home on Sunday
Fears over the safety and care of residents now on lockdown within the care home come as it is revealed that the facility has a history of failing to take adequate steps to control the spread of illness
Around 27 of the 108 residents and 25 of the 180 staff have shown some symptoms of the virus, including some cases where individuals had contracted pneumonia.
A scientist in Washington State believes coronavirus may have been spreading for six weeks before it was detected, and there could be a ‘few hundred’ people currently infected amid an ‘already substantial outbreak’.
Trevor Bedford of the University of Washington said the illness has likely spread within the community as none of the people confirmed to be infected had recently traveled.
Bedford said a team at the Seattle Flu Study had compared the first reported case of COVID-19 in the United States to the second case, and found that it was on the same evolutionary tree.
‘It’s possible that this genetic similarity is a coincidence and these are separate introductions. However, I believe this is highly unlikely. The WA1 case had a variant at site 18060. This variant is only present in 2/59 viruses from China,’ Bedford said.
‘I’d assess the p-value for this coincidence at 2/59=0.03 and so is statistically significant. Additionally, these two cases are geographically proximal, both residing in Snohomish County.
‘I believe we’re facing an already substantial outbreak in Washington State that was not detected until now due to narrow case definition requiring direct travel to China.’
Scientists not affiliated with the research said the results did not necessarily surprise them and pointed out that for many people – especially younger, healthier ones – the symptoms are not much worse than a flu or bad cold.
Health officials in Washington state said Sunday night that a man in his 70s had died – and he had previously been a resident at a nursing facility near Seattle where dozens of people were sick and had been tested for the virus
So far, there are at least five reported cases nationwide where authorities do not know how the virus was contracted, according to the federal government – one in Chicago, one in Washington State, one in Oregon, and two in California
On Sunday it was reported that the third case of coronavirus was confirmed in Illinois.
Officials said that the two other Illinois patients found to have the coronavirus have since made a full recovery.
Also on Sunday, the Rhode Island Department of Health announced the first presumptive positive case of coronavirus. The patient in their 40s had traveled to Italy in mid-February.
On Sunday Night, the Florida Department of Health confirmed two patients have tested ‘presumptive positive’ for coronavirus.
One is a resident of Hillsborough County, while the other is from of Manatee County. Both have been isolated.
The Trump administration on Saturday announced measures aimed at curbing the spread of coronavirus, including new restrictions on Americans and other who have traveled to Iran.
The government is also advising citizens against travel to certain parts of Italy and South Korea, where significant outbreaks of the pathogen have been reported.
Virus claims more than 3,000 lives worldwide as flights from US to Italy are suspended
Worldwide, the outbreak that began in Wuhan, China has sickened at least 88,583 people and killed more than 3,000 in 54 countries.
The US will start screening travelers for coronavirus and ramp up production of masks and test kits as the government scrambles to reassure Americans while the disease spreads and businesses cancel conferences and flights.
Donald Trump said on Sunday that travelers to the United States from countries at high risk of coronavirus would be screened before boarding and upon arrival, without specifying which countries.
Delta Air Lines on Sunday said it is suspending until May flights to Milan in northern Italy where most of that country’s coronavirus cases have been reported. Flights will continue to Rome. American Airlines Group Inc announced a similar move late on Saturday.
The United States has imposed limits on travelers who have visited Iran and recommended against travel to hard-hit areas of Italy and South Korea.
Mike Pence, whom Trump appointed last week to run the White House’s coronavirus response, said Americans should brace for more cases, but that the ‘vast majority’ of those who contracted the disease would recover
Trump said on Saturday that the United States was also considering shutting the country’s southern border with Mexico to control the spread of the virus, adding, ‘We hope we won’t have to do that.’
Mexico has reported four coronavirus cases. Its foreign ministry said on Saturday that both governments are in ‘close and effective communication, especially the health authorities.’
Meanwhile in Australia, the first human-to-human transfer of COVID-19 has been confirmed as the number of cases in the country hit 31. Tasmania has also confirmed its first case of the virus.
Vice President Mike Pence said the government had contracted 3M Co to produce an extra 35 million respiratory masks a month. He urged Americans not to buy the masks, which he said were only needed by healthcare workers. Honeywell International Inc is the other major U.S. mask producer.
Pence, named by the president to be the point-person overseeing the government’s response, said more than 15,000 virus testing kits had been released over the weekend. And, the administration is working with a commercial provider to distribute 50,000 more, he said.
The vice president said testing was among the first issues raised by governors he’s spoken with so far. Several states have begun their own testing, including Washington state, Oregon and Illinois.