Australian coronavirus panic buyers have stripped supermarket shelves of non-perishables, toiletries and toilet paper over the past week.
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In the Southern Highlands, there are more subtle signs of residents stockpiling for a potential pandemic.
There are currently no antibacterial hand washes or hand sanitiser products available at Coles and Woolworths supermarkets.
At Coles stores on Monday, non-perishable food items appeared to be in high demand with several varieties of pasta and canned tomatoes running low.
On the same day, some brands of self-raising flour, hand wash and bleach were scarce at Woolworths supermarkets.
The Southern Highland News also saw several empty shelves usually stocked with five and 10 kilo bags of rice at one Woolworths store.
A Woolworths spokeswoman confirmed non-perishable food items were in high demand for local shoppers.
"We've seen a sharp increase in demand for long-life pantry items and household staples in recent days, which has led to partial stock shortages across some of our stores," the spokeswoman said.
"We've been working closely with our suppliers to ramp up deliveries and production to maintain stock availability for our customers.
"We apologise to customers for the inconvenience and thank them for their patience."
A Coles spokeswoman said there was a similar shortage at its Southern Highlands supermarkets.
"Coles has increased the number of deliveries to stores this week to improve availability on popular products, such as long-life pantry staples and healthcare items and our teams are working hard to fill the shelves as quickly as possible," the spokeswoman said.
"Like many retailers, we currently have a shortage of some antibacterial hand washes and hand sanitiser products due to high customer demand.
"We are continuing to work with our suppliers to maintain availability for customers."
ALDI stores appeared to be well-stocked on Tuesday, while Bunnings Warehouse had a limited number of face masks left on the shelves.
Meanwhile managers of Harris Farm and small grocery stores had not observed any stockpiling behaviour.
ALDI Australia and Ashcroft's SUPA IGA have been contacted for comment.
Government authorities have advised the community to "remain alert but not alarmed" about coronavirus.
Visit https://www.health.gov.au/news/health-alerts/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov-health-alert for more information about the spread and prevention of the virus.
