92-year-old makes heartbreaking plea to people who are 'panic buying' in COVID-19 crisis

As the unprecedented outbreak of deadly Coronavirus continues to tighten its grip worldwide, people have started hoarding essentials as a result of “panic buying”. Amid the heightened tensions, Lillian Chew, a 92-year-old made a heartbreaking plea to those who are clearing out shelves in the supermarkets and asked them to “think about us at care homes” and the people who do not have anyone to bring them the necessary items for day-to-day life. In a short clip posted on Facebook, she asked everyone to take care of themselves at the time of pandemic but also pleaded people to not clear out the shelves at markets.  

As soon as the video was shared on social media, it was called "heartbreaking" by many internet users. Netizens not only showed anger towards the people who are "behaving senselessly" but also sympathised with the elderly people at care homes. Due to the rapid spread of the Coronavirus outbreak, governments across the world are advising people to stay at home and avoid social interaction.

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After the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic people had started to indulge in panic buying. This has led to a deficit in many essential items like toilet paper, pasta, bottled water, medicine, hand sanitizer and masks.

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Woman weeps after she can't find diapers in store

While Lillian was a 92-year-old, another woman had made a similar plea from the people who started panic buying. A video of a 36-year-old woman named Lauren Whitney trying to find diapers for her kids in a Walmart store, and then crying because the supply was stripped clean due to panic buying amid Coronavirus crisis, has disturbed the internet. People have been hoarding food and essential supplies, as they have been asked to social distance and quarantine. Whitney posted the video originally on TikTok in which she could be seen in tears urging people not to panic buy. 

“To all you crazy people buying out all the diapers, how am I supposed to diaper my child if I can’t afford 20 at a time like you can?” she could be heard saying in the video. The woman recorded the clip after she visited a few stores and still could not find her younger daughter’s diaper size. She complained that the prices soared 20 times as people had started to stock it. Whitney is a mother to four children and lives in Southern Utah, confirmed media reports. 

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