Where’s the toilet paper? Some stores limit purchases as COVID-19 cases spike

It could be difficult to find toilet paper at grocery stores again.

On Thursday, the U.S. reported a record 116,707 new coronavirus infections, according to The Washington Post. The major increase in COVID-19 cases is causing several major grocery store chains to limit the amount of toilet paper and other items people can purchase, news outlets report.

Kroger, which owns grocery stores in 35 states, has “proactively and temporarily set purchase limits to two per customer” on toilet paper, paper towels, disinfecting wipes and hand soap, USA Today reported.

It’s not the only grocery store to limit purchases. H-E-B, which owns more than 400 stores in Texas and Mexico, also started limiting the purchase of disinfecting sprays and wipes, and first aid items at all stores, according to a company news release. It limited the amount of toilet paper and paper towels allotted at stores in Border, Central Texas, Gulf Coast and San Antonio locations.

The Giant Company also started limiting the purchase of paper products again in its 190 stores, PennLive reported. Christopher Brand, the company’s spokesperson, told CNN the company saw “little evidence of stockpiling, and there is no need to create panic.”

In March, people were frantically buying toilet paper and hand sanitizer as fears of the coronavirus began. People felt the need to “stock up” and get as many essentials as possible, McClatchy News reported.

“(Coronavirus) is engendering a sort of survivalist psychology, where we must live as much as possible at home and thus must ‘stock up’ on essentials,” Frank Farley, a professor at Temple University, told CNN at the time. “And that certainly includes toilet paper.”

This story was originally published November 6, 2020 at 1:01 PM with the headline "Where’s the toilet paper? Some stores limit purchases as COVID-19 cases spike."