Sheff students stockpile pasta and toilet roll in Broomhill amid coronavirus panic

Students in Sheffield have joined the stockpiling frenzy over the coronavirus outbreak.

Shelves have been stripped bare of pasta and toilet roll in Morrisons, Broomhill, the feeder store for freshers in Endcliffe and Ranmoor.

The Tab Sheffield also found panic-buying scenes in Asda on Queens Road, the go-to supermarket for many Hallam students who live nearby.

It comes as Covid-19 cases in the UK soared to 460 on Wednesday, and an eighth person died from the flu-like disease.

Sheffield had remained free of coronavirus until today, when the first case in the city was confirmed by Public Health England.

Morrisons in Broomhill

Morrisons in Broomhill has sold out of bare essentials

UK supermarkets have raised alarm over supply chains as Brits flock to shops to buy essentials. Nationwide stores have emptied of hand sanitiser, loo rolls and pasta.

This is despite the government warning that there is no need to stockpile goods over coronavirus.

Aldi in Sheffield also reportedly sold out of pasta last week.

This afternoon the World Health Organisation declared the illness to be a global pandemic.

Last week the government’s chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance said there was no need for Britons to be panic-buying.

Asda on Queens Road, where many Hallam students live, is also bare

“I think the advice is that there is absolutely no reason to be doing any panic buying of any sort or going out and keeping large supplies of things,” he said.

“Clearly there will need to be measures in cases of household quarantine for making sure food is in the right place at the right time.

“We imagine that could be a rolling case of household quarantine if that measure becomes necessary, and clearly things will need to be in place for care homes and so on if that decision is made.”

Environment Secretary George Eustice said earlier this week that restrictions on night-time deliveries are being relaxed amid the stockpiling to allow goods to move more quickly from warehouses to shelves.