Covid-19: Panic buying in northern Italy after 150 confirmed cases in 3 days

Mass hysteria.

Zhangxin Zheng | February 24, 2020, 12:23 PM

Two regions in northern Italy have become the epicentres of Covid-19 infection after a sudden spike in confirmed cases of Covid-19 over the past three days.

The number of cases has risen to 155 from just three a week ago.

Three deaths have been reported from the country and the authorities have locked down at least 10 towns in the northern region.

Shops, cafes and schools were closed and major events such as Series A matches and the Venice Carnival have been cancelled as well.

The residents in northern Italy scurried to get their hands on supplies and face masks at local markets as the Covid-19 situation escalated.

Panic buying

According to Euronews, long queues have formed in the supermarkets at Casalpusterleno after it was locked down by authorities.

Police were activated to manage the crowd at a supermarket in Lodi province.

While Milan has not reported any confirmed cases, shelves have been emptied by residents out of fear of the coronavirus spread.

https://twitter.com/QuakeFury/status/1231670560180121600

https://twitter.com/PorterMedium/status/1231669184154787850

The same scenes have allegedly been sighted in other parts of northern Italy:

https://twitter.com/ASBreakingNews/status/1231675013213888512

https://twitter.com/jasperatAT/status/1231581451293995009

Top photo collage via @jorahmustlive/Twitter