The present paranoia over the coronavirus, especially panic buying, fuelled by media expose if not fascination, is having its human toll. A little girl could have been killed by thoughtless brutes, with the intelligence of water buffalo:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8123543/Child-CRUSHED-stampede-Coles-panic-buyers-stormed-store-rush-toilet-paper.html?ito=push-notification&ci=10692&si=1326534
“A little girl has been crushed by panic buyers who stormed a Coles in a mad rush to buy toilet paper. The stampede at the Coles in Baldivis, Perth, on Wednesday left a 13-year-old girl injured and crying on the ground.
Her mother, who is currently wheelchair-bound due to a recent operation, said she went to the supermarket to collect toilet paper and snacks for school with her daughter and nine-year-old son. When the doors opened the mother was quickly separated from her daughter until she found her crying on the floor, according to The West Australian. 'She was pushed to the ground and then stood on by adults who had no care in the world for a child on the floor. People were walking over her while she was crying on the ground just to get what they wanted,' she said. As her daughter tried to enter the store, shoppers knocked her to the ground as they charged towards the toilet paper located near the entrance. The mother took her to get x-rays on a swollen knee and was waiting on results. 'I am shocked at how people were acting this morning even before the doors opened. People pushing, people telling people to get back in line,' she said.”
This is a test run for what would happen if there was a really deadly serious pandemic, such as the 1918 flu 2.0. It brought to mind a story from years ago, where shoppers rushed to get some bargain electronic goods, and someone lost part of a finger, but did not claim it, being so eager to get a colour TV! What is a finger compared to a bargain TV? With corpses in the street, piling up, I imagine that the reaction of the average shopper would be … intense shopping!