Grocery stores packed as residents plan to stay home for the foreseeable future
LAKELAND, Fla. - If you've been to the store lately, you've seen people panic-buying. Officials are calling for this behavior to stop to ensure there is enough to go around.
In Lakeland, the stores are packed with people worried they may need to stay home for the foreseeable future. It is a big enough and pervasive enough problem that even the White House is addressing it.
“There is no need for anybody in the country to hoard essential food supplies,” President Donald Trump said Monday. “You don’t have to buy the quantities because it’s hard to refill the stores on a basis as rapidly as they are re-filling them.”
At Choice Food Store in Lakeland, by the time folks check out, their carts are overflowing with meat, veggies and lots of canned goods. Even though food was flying out the door, there was plenty left on the shelves.
The store says suppliers are ramped up making deliveries and employees are working overtime to re-stock. However, finding anti-coronavirus cleaning supplies does seem to be tricky.
“The only thing that we have on backorder is hand sanitizer,” an employee told FOX 13.
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Because despite the limits some stores have put on it, people continue to clean them out. The food supply seems to be in good shape, however, federal officials are concerned about a potential shortage of things like aspirin, gloves, and masks.
Those mostly come from overseas and several countries have stopped exporting them.
If you feel sick
The Florida Department of Health has opened a COVID-19 Call Center at 1-866-779-6121. Agents will answer questions Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Questions may also be emailed to covid-19@flhealth.gov. Email responses will be sent during call center hours.
LINK: Florida's COVID-19 website
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