LONDON, ONT -- Panic shopping set in across London Thursday evening and has continued Friday morning after Ontario announced an extended March Break as a prevention method to the spread of COVID-19.
Photos sent to CTV News show a lineup wrapping around the South London Costco Friday morning as the store prepared to open.
News quickly spread across social media Thursday night that stores were being flooded with people. Videos began to emerge of lines at stores across the country, not just London.
One such video on Facebook gained nearly a million views in just a few short hours.
The video shot by Leo Lucier, whose Facebook page says he is from Windsor, Ont., shows a lineup at a grocery store stretching to the back and around the entire store.
In London the hoarding of goods has gone beyond that of toilet paper.
Frozen food freezers were empty at the No Frills location at Southdale Road and Colonol Talbot.
Several other shelves were also empty or near empty, while staff dealt with the unexpected onslaught of people.
Experts tell CTV that panic buying is irrational behavior as good supply chains remain strong, however it is a very human response as people try to get some control on a situation that feels out of control to many.
