Some supermarkets in Mexico City have placed quantity restrictions on certain items to prevent panic buying amid the growing spread of Covid-19.

In Soriana stores, shoppers are limited to a maximum of two cartons of eggs containing 30 eggs or less and cannot buy more than two packs of sugar, instant coffee, margarine and butter, the newspaper Reforma reported. Customers are also restricted to a maximum of two multipacks of bottled water.

The purchase of uncooked beans, rice, corn and wheat flour, cereals, granola bars, cookies, cooking oil, vinegar and frozen foods is limited to four items per customer. Limits of six items apply to cartons of juice, packets of pasta, tins of beans, soup and vegetables, and cans of tuna and sardines.

For its part, Walmart is limiting the purchase of cleaning products, hand sanitizers and disinfectants to three items per customer.

An employee at one Walmart supermarket told Reforma that some essential products have sold out completely as a result of panic buying.

Claudia de la Vega, Walmart’s director of corporate affairs, said that demand has increased at all of the company’s supermarkets in Mexico. She said that Walmart is not currently experiencing shortages of any products and is focused on maintaining supply across all its stores.

Panic buying related to the coronavirus pandemic was first seen in Mexico in cities in northern border states about two weeks ago but has since spread to other parts of the country.

Mexico recorded its first Covid-19 case on February 27 and numbers have risen steadily since. As of Thursday, there were 475 confirmed cases of the disease across the country and eight coronavirus-related deaths.

Source: Reforma (sp)