PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — While many people understand the rush on hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes and bottled water in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak, the one product flying off the shelves that has people puzzled?
Toilet paper.
Across Hampton Roads the aisles where toilet paper is kept are bare.
“I really needed toilet paper, I don’t have much left,” said Cinita Brothers, a Hampton resident, who came out empty-handed from the Kroger West Mercury Boulevard.
Coronavirus, or COVID-19, is a respiratory infection and none of the symptoms match up with any issue toilet paper is used to deal with.
However, Dr. Jay Zagorsky, Senior Lecturer at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business, points to “Zero Risk Bias” as the reason.
“Zero Risk Bias (is when) people prefer to try to eliminate one type of possibly superficial risk entirely rather than do something that would reduce their total risk by a greater amount,” Zagorsky wrote for the online publication The Conversation.
“Hoarding also makes people feel secure. This is especially relevant when the world is faced with a novel disease over which all of us have little or no control. However, we can control things like having enough toilet paper in case we are quarantined.”
While supplies are limited, many stores have limited the amount of toilet paper people can purchase.