Alex Socorro
When the lockdown here was declared on March 15, we were surprised to see the long lines in the supermarket and pharmacy. Those are the only stores allowed to open. That means restaurants, hardware and other stores are closed by government order. At the outset, it was obvious that people were into the panic buying mode that results in hoarding as well. That’s expected because food and medicine are for our survival.
But after a week of the lockdown, the line of customers got longer. There is something wrong there. The government had restricted the supermarkets and pharmacies to open for 8 hours only. With the social distancing, the number of customers is controlled inside the shopping area and in the pharmacy too. That system created the longer lines. After 3 weeks, the government changed the rules and said such stores can operate for 12 hours. Now, hear this, who is silly and who is stupid, the customers who buy every day or the government that restricted the operating hours?
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Is there a long line to the supermarket?
Well… no one was prepared for this kind of situation. No one expected this, so the initial response is not expected to be a perfect one. Good thing that we don’t have riots or widespread looting here.