
(NEW YORK) — Remember what seems like 50 years ago, back in March, when you couldn’t get toilet paper thanks to COVID-19-related panic buying?
Well, as COVID-19 cases spike in certain states, with a record 126,742 infections reported on Saturday alone, some major grocery chains are instituting caps to prevent the same situation, which also saw runs on disinfecting products.
A rep for Kroger, which has stores in 35 states and the District of Columbia, tells USA Today that as of Monday, they have “proactively and temporarily set purchase limits to two per customer” on not only paper goods like TP and paper towels, but on other previously hoarded commodities like hand sanitizer, disinfecting wipes and hand soap.
Another chain, H-E-B, noted it instituted similar limits on paper goods starting October 31, clamping down on toilet paper sales for its 400 stores.
“[T]he supply chain remains challenged,” noted a spokesperson for The Giant Co., which operates 190 stores across the country, in explaining its limits on privy paper and other goods. The company noted that there is as of yet “little evidence of stockpiling.”
Other chains, including Wegmans, have had limits in place since May, the newspaper notes.
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.