SUPERMARKETS have started rationing stock in a bid to stop shoppers from stockpiling amid coronavirus fears.
Discounter Aldi has just announced severe measures restricting customers to just four of every item to cope with customers panic-buying.
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There have been more than 1140 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the UK, causing panicked shoppers to clear out the supermarket aisles of nappies, dried and tinned foods and even Prosecco.
High street stores have also been running out of hand sanitisers and cleaning products.
Most supermarkets have introduced some limits to stop customers from clearing the shelves, but these have largely been contained to medicines, loo roll, hand sanitiser and other "in demand" items.
But Aldi has now become the first supermarket to introduce stronger measures, rationing customers buying every item it sells.
What are shops rationing?
HERE'S what high street retailers' are rationing so far. We'll be updating this article if more limits are applied:
- Aldi – Four items per person across all products
- Asda – Hand santisers and cleaning products two per person, online and in stores
- Boots – Hand santisers, all baby sterilising and antibacterial products, hand wash, cough and cold and pain relief, children's medicins, thermometers and tissues including wipes, two per person, online and in stores
- Coop – Toilet rolls, kitchen rolls, antibacterial hand gels and soaps, East of England stores
- Iceland – Hand sanitisers and some cleaning products, four per person, online
- Lidl – Sales are permitted to usual household quantities.
- Morrisons – Maximum limits ona variety of products including hand sanitisers, two per customer and bleach, six per customer.
- Ocado – Toilet roll has been rationed to two 12-packs per customer. Delays with deliveries
- Sainsbury's – Soap, hand wash, tissues and cleaning products, five per customer. Pain relief, two per customer
- Superdrug – Hand santisers, two per person
- Tesco – Five each of items including long-life milk, pasta antibacterial products
- Waitrose – Anti-bacterial soaps and wipes, four per person, online. Local stores may have other restrictions.
For example, Asda, Aldi, Boots and Superdrug have capped the number of hand gels customers can buy to just two per person.
Meanwhile Waitrose has also limited the number of anti-bacterial wipes and hand gels one person can buy to four per person.
The maximum hand gels and anti-bacterial wipes Iceland online shoppers can buy is four per person, but there isn't a cap if you want to buy them in store.
Sainsbury's has imposed limits on soap, hand wash, tissues and cleaning products to five per customer.
Lidl told The Sun that it is monitoring the situation and has tweeted to customers that sales are permitted to usual household quantities.
Morrisons has put a two per customer cap on hand gels and six per shopper limit on bleach.
Ocado has already alerted shoppers that there may be delays with deliveries since its seen a spike in the number and size of orders.
And Tesco has limited customers to five each of items including long-life milk and antibacterial products.
PZ Cussons, the company behind the Carex brand, told The Sun that it has "significantly increased" the production of its hand gel and hand wash to meet demand.
Andrew Opie, from the British Retail Consortium, previously told The Sun: "Our members are working as hard as they can to ensure consumers have access to whatever products they want.
"Even when circumstances are difficult, retailers are well-versed in providing effective measures to keep retail sites running smoothly, and we are working with suppliers to ensure this continues."
Even though it's possible to get by without a stockpile, plenty of people may find it reassuring to have two week's worth of essentials in case they're put in isolation.
We've put together a guide to what you might need to have in the back of your cupboard if you are asked to self-isolate for two weeks.
And here's where you can buy the hand sanitiser gels despite the jump in demand and widespread stock shortages.
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