American consumers are starting to panic buy as fears over the spread of Covid-19 grow.

First death from virus reported

The country reported its first death from the virus on Saturday, Feb. 29.

It has also reported a fourth case of the virus of unknown origin.

The first case of Covid-19 in the U.S. was reported on Jan. 21.

There have been 71 reported cases in the country since.

The country is the latest to join in the panic-buying frenzy that developed in countries and territories such as Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Italy, and New Zealand due to the viral outbreak.

Long, snaking queues at Costco outlets

According to Reuters, the health departments in Hawaii and Minnesota advised their residents to stock up on supplies, with the former advising people to prepare as they did for hurricanes, with a 14-day supply of food, water and other daily necessities.

However, the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also said there was no need for healthy Americans to stockpile any supplies, even as shoppers thronged the shops.

For instance, residents in Hawaii showed up at Costco outlets in crowds to snap up items such as canned goods, bottled water, toilet paper and paper towels.

#COVID19 #COVID19US #Costco long lines outside Costco pic.twitter.com/kHuYUuuQbr

— Doug Shen (@vote4dongshen) February 29, 2020

To ensure there is enough for all, a Costco outlet even placed limits on the number of items shoppers could buy.

#coronavirus #hawaii Costco today. A few days ago the island was in panic mode w/ppl hoarding & buying multiples. Costco ran out of toilet paper, paper towels, Spam & Vienna sausages. Back in stock. The whole island is out of hand sanitizers & masks. I don’t see ppl wearing masks pic.twitter.com/wbEYgCWq75

— Hapa Girl (hapa_girl on Truth Social) (@hapa_girl33) February 29, 2020

Not just Hawaii

Hawaii was not the only state to experience such a phenomenon.

People stocked up on medicine in California.

We're already screwed. Cough medicine shelves are now bare, just like the mask sections. I've been going to different Walgreens just to look. Baby section too. Even thermometers are off the shelves. #everyoneiscoughing in Southern California. pic.twitter.com/KxvA7Dtgt5

— S. (@vixengolden) February 28, 2020

Shoppers at a supermarket in Virginia cleared the shelves of non-perishables such as pasta.

Social media users posted pictures of the goods they managed to get their hands on, with a Twitter user showing off her spoils online.

If you aren’t prepping for an outbreak you should be. Hopefully it never happens. Worst case scenario you have extra dry goods in your home. But now is the time to get water, pedialyte, flu medications, extra food, etc, before the shelves are empty. #CoronavirusOutbreak pic.twitter.com/Hj620uVX8m

— 🌺Bella Luna🌺 (@bellaluna130) February 26, 2020

A financial analyst in North Texas even prepared a year and a half's worth of Spam, along with bags of rice, large bags of uncooked beans and other non-perishable foodstuffs.

Costco outlet ran out of toilet paper for the first time

The hoarding happened in Oregon as well.

Shoppers at a Costco store near Lake Oswego, a city in Oregon, emptied shelves of products such as bottled water, toilet paper, frozen berries and black beans too, according to Associated Press.

A Costco employee had reportedly said: "Toilet paper is golden in an apocalypse."

The panic buying resulted in that particular store running out of toilet paper for the first time in its history.

Trump said threat of Covid-19 was a "hoax"

In response to new cases that emerged from a nursing home in Kirkland, Washington, Washington’s Governor Jay Inslee has declared a state of emergency, The New York Times reported.  

American President Donald Trump, however, has downplayed the viral outbreak in the U.S., saying at a campaign rally in South Carolina that the Democrats are "politicising" the Covid-19, said CNBC.

Top image adapted via @votefordongshen & @TinaBietler