The new coronavirus may be spreading around the world but there鈥檚 no need for British Columbians to clear out grocery stores, a clinical psychologist from the University of B.C. said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a little bit like a stampede at a sporting event,鈥� Steven Taylor said.
鈥淥nce one person starts stampeding for the exit, everyone does.鈥�
In this case, the stampede has been to the grocery store and images all over social media show busy shops, empty shelves and full shopping carts.
Taylor said that鈥檚 likely because of well-meaning advice from Canadian health officials to stock up on a two-week supply of food, household essentials and medication.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 good advice but many people don鈥檛 have those kinds of supplies,鈥� Taylor told Black Press Media by phone.
That has led to a rush that has cleared out groceries stores, particularly warehouses like Costco.
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Taylor said that in B.C., which has seen nine cases of COVID-19 so far, buying a whole shelf of toilet paper is probably not necessary when buying a backup of your essentials is probably enough.
鈥淔ear is contagious. Imagine you鈥檙e on the Titanic and you see everyone rushing for the [life] boats. You鈥檙e not going to stop and twiddle your thumbs 鈥� you鈥檙e going to follow the crowd,鈥� he said.
鈥淯rgency, scarcity and anxiety are the big three players in the initial panicked buying, and from there I think it snowballed.鈥�
Images of empty shelves and crowded stores have scared people who may not have initially been concerned, Taylor said, but it鈥檚 important to remember that images that go viral are not an accurate view of the situation.
鈥淚f an image is dramatic, it鈥檚 not going to be representative of the way things are,鈥� Taylor said. 鈥淧eople need to remind themselves鈥� that an image of a fully stocked supermarket shelf and calm shoppers, that鈥檚 not going to go viral.鈥�
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