Middle NZ: Be prepared, but stay calm

Where has all the garlic gone? Photo / File

COMMENT
It's been quite a week. Fighting over toilet paper as stocks run low because of people stockpiling.

People queueing at Auckland pharmacies to buy paracetamol as news breaks that there are "fears of a shortage as India limits drug support".

Then unbelievably I heard on the radio that garlic was flying off the shelves because people were using it in an effort to "boost their immune system."

As one of my colleagues commented "it would be much cheaper to boost your immune system by going for a run."

What a jolly good idea. A decent bit of exercise and a healthy balanced diet is a far better option.

Although I guess scoffing a whole lot of garlic would be a good way to keep people from getting too close to you.

The coronavirus really has sent the entire world into a spin. Yes, we need to be prepared and it's human nature to try and have the things we think we will need to keep our family safe and comfortable.

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There is no shortage of loo paper, however, it's like a chain reaction — you go the supermarket and shelves that are usually stacked with the stuff are bare. Immediately your brain tells you to get some before it's all gone even though there's most likely pallets of it in the storage sheds.

So instead of buying one packet as you normally would, you buy two or, as the ladies that fought in Australia did, fill an entire trolley.

Already there is no hand sanitiser to be had in the entire country.

I'm really not sure how or when that happened. I don't have any and I don't care. Same with face masks. I don't have any and I don't care.

In the middle of writing this I took a walk to the supermarket. I was absolutely stunned to find that there was not one clove of garlic in store. I asked one of the staff and they said they couldn't get any.

Linda Hall, assistant editor, Hawke's Bay Today.

I moved to the supplement aisle because now I was curious as I had also heard someone say that vitamin C was the answer to preventing the virus. You guessed it — an empty shelf although there was some available further along.

I take vitamin C every now and then. Nothing wrong with that, but it's not a miracle supplement that is going to prevent you catching a virus of any kind. If it was, there would be no one in the world with colds and flu.

Let's be honest. The virus is eventually going to find it's way to Hawke's Bay and what I do care about is how our health services are going to cope. Our hospital struggles to cope as it is.

I am no expert on this virus that is causing havoc around the world, but from what I understand the elderly are those most vulnerable especially if they have underlying problems.

If you have an elderly neighbour, especially if they have no family nearby, if you haven't already, give them your phone number. If things do get really bad knowing they can call you for help would be really reassuring.

It's a hard one, really, because on the one hand we can't say "she'll be right mate" and hope it all goes away, and on the other hand we don't want everybody panic buying.

We all need to simply do what we should have been doing all along — washing hands and staying home if you are feeling sick. That means not going to the supermarket as well.

Here's a thought — why don't they send all the logs stock piled at ports around the country to Kawerau? That will surely reassure people.

Linda Hall is assistant editor of Hawke's Bay Today.