On Friday evening, supermarkets in Taipei put out their usual stocks of toilet paper, stacked floor-to-ceiling in brick-sized packets stuffed into bags decorated with colorful cartoon characters. By Monday, just barren racks — and bewildered shoppers — were left.In Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore, shoppers are stockpiling toilet paper, hand sanitizers, rice, instant noodles, cured meats, sanitary napkins and other products as fears over the new strain of coronavirus from China continue to ripple across Asia.Many consumers are worried that more infections in their countries and territories — which have some of the highest numbers of coronavirus cases outside China — will make it unsafe to go shopping. Others are concerned that the Chinese economy will be weakened by the outbreak and unable to keep exporting the goods many rely on. Advertisement Still others were scared when images of empty shelves and snaking lines outside supermarkets flooded social media over … [Read more...] about Coronavirus outbreak spurs hoarding in Asia
