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COVID-19: ‘People don’t need to stockpile everyday items’, Jokowi says amid panic buying spree
Jokowi said that the government and the private sector had enough food and non-food stocks, including around 50 million face masks, to meet public demand.
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President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo at Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on Tuesday. He urged the public to stay calm and carry on as usual. (Antara/Sigid Kurniawan)
P
resident Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has spoken out against hoarding as people across the country go on panic buying sprees following the announcement of Indonesia’s first two confirmed COVID-19 cases.
Jokowi said the government and the private sector had enough food and non-food stocks, including around 50 million face masks, to meet public demand.
The President has also instructed the National Police chief to crack down on individuals hoarding and reselling face masks.
“People don’t need to stockpile everyday items,” he said at a press conference at the State Palace in Central Jakarta on Tuesday. “If anything, what makes such items rare is bulk buying.”
People began panic buying everyday goods, ranging from instant noodles to antiseptic wipes, on Monday afternoon after Jokowi announced the country’s first two confirmed COVID-19 cases.
The patients, a 64-year-old woman and her 31-year-old daughter, are currently being treated at Sulianti Saroso Infectious Diseases Hospital (RSPI Sulianti Saroso) in Jakarta.
There have been also been reports of thinning face mask supplies at drugstores around the country.
Menita, a storekeeper at Agung Raya drugstore in Manado, North Sulawesi told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday that her store had doubled the price of face masks to Rp 4,000 (28 US Cents) a piece and capped sales to three pieces per customer. She said that her store raised prices because distributors had also raised prices to Rp 500,000 per box of 50 face masks.
“There are residents who bulk buy face masks to send to their family members in Jakarta, because they said that there aren’t any face masks there. We have been sold out of face masks since this morning,” Menita said.
Demand for face masks has also surged in Blitar regency, East Java.
"We already put up a sign telling customers that we don't have any face masks but they keep asking anyway,” drugstore employee Lina Sugianti told the Post on Tuesday.
Lina said the drugstore had not been able to replenish its face mask stocks for a month and a half due to consumers bulk buying the masks for their relatives who are migrant workers in countries hit by the coronavirus outbreak such as Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore.
The Indonesian Retailers Association (Aprindo) and Indonesian Shopping Centers Tenants Association (Hippindo) issued statements on Monday to assure their members’ that food and non-food supplies would be more than sufficient to fulfill regular demand and that they had also taken certain measures to ensure a constant supply in the case of prolonged panic. (nor)
