Hanoians flock to supermarkets after new confirmed case
At 2 am, DaLat Mart at Times City was still crowded with people and a queuing line outside. Instant noodles, rice, toilet paper, vegetables and fruits were the most common purchases. Phuong, the store manager, said they usually closed at 11 pm but after Hanoi had it first Covid-19 case, they had to call for more employees to work overnight to cope with the increased number of customers.
"The prices are the same. We knew that we would work overnight," she said.
Huong, a resident at Times City, said she had to queue for quite a long time to buy instant noodles, spices and toilet papers for at least two to three days.
My Linh from Linh Dam said she bought enough supplies for 10 days in case there is an outbreak in Hanoi. "I bought mostly rice, vegetables, pork. I also bought instant noodles but not much because my family may not be able to consume it all," she said.
Lan, a representative of a convenience store in Ha Dong District said customers started queuing from 11 pm until 2 am. "We have never been such overwhelmed. We have to ask that each customer is allowed to buy only two cartons of instant noodles and 30kg of rice. We don't have much supply," she said.
Also in Ha Dong District, Cao Tuan Ninh said when he went out to buy instant noodles at 1 am, everything was sold out within five to seven minutes.
Cuong from Gia Lam District said he walked 5 km and queued 30 minutes in order to buy toilet paper and instant noodles. When he returned home, it was 2 am. "I've never had to queue before but today, rice, vegetables and fruits were all sold out. The prices didn't increase though," he said.
In the morning of March 7, supermarkets and shopping centres were overcrowded. Meat and fish shelves were nearly empty. Long queues can be seen at supermarkets even though it was only 8 am.
At 10 pm on March 6, Chairman of Hanoi People's Committee Nguyen Duc Chung confirmed that one woman lives on Truc Bach Street had tested positive to SARS-CoV-2.