The numbers are in for the short wave of panic buying that hit the Czech Republic two weeks ago. People spent 19 percent more in shops than they did a year ago, filling their carts to the brim with basic supplies and non-perishable goods. According to a study by Nielsen, four times more flour was sold, while waterless hand cleaner sales jumped 14 times while the amount spent on hand wipes quadrupled. Nielsen’s study focused on stores with average weekly sales of over CZK 35m.
The contagion of panic buying reached the country’s stores just before anyone had actually been confirmed to be carrying the coronavirus. The country’s total reached 38 overnight, with officials announcing that the latest case was a Prague taxi driver, suggesting that community-based infections were now taking place. While concern is rising, however, calm returned quickly to the nation’s stores and experts claim that while media helped spread fear among consumers by publishing pictures of empty shelves, the nation’s supply of food had never been threatened.
