Coronavirus: L.A. residents stock up on food, cleaning supplies
''After the initial outbreak of the coronavirus in China, Los Angeles resident Lily Capatori followed every news update about the disease and the efforts to contain it.
When it spread to other countries such as Japan, Italy and eventually, the United States, she concluded that an outbreak in Los Angeles was inevitable.
“We’re going to have a lot of closures and casualties like in other countries,” she said. “It’s not a matter of ‘if’ but ‘when,’ and I just want to be ready because when people panic and hit the shops, I’ll be ready to go.”
Walking around, she noticed that cases of water bottles were nearly out, and the toilet paper that is usually stacked high was gone. For a moment she stopped to speak to Joel, a Costco employee.
“What’s selling the most?” she asked him.
“Anything that has to do with cleaning,” he told her.
“What are you out of?”
“Toilet paper, water, towels,”
“Antiseptic wipes and Clorox disinfecting wipes are flying out of here,” he said. “We can’t keep those in stock.”
He said people are mostly purchasing water, paper goods, grains such as rice and pasta, jarred food and peanut butter.''
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