South Africans are buying toilet paper, hand sanitizer, and other products in bulk as the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic spreads across the country.

This follows President Cyril Ramaphosa announcing a number of urgent and drastic measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in South Africa.

These include travel bans on individuals from high-risk countries, the prohibition of gatherings of more than 100 people, school closures, and the closure of land and sea ports.

Following this announcement, many South Africans headed to Makro, Checkers, and other stores to purchase supplies such as toilet paper and food in bulk.

This led to large queues of people looking to stockpile goods at these locations, as shown by a number of videos and photos shared on social media.

The panic-buying of various items during pandemics is a global trend which has been seen in affected regions overseas in the past weeks.

Toilet paper appears especially sought-after both in South Africa and internationally, despite its lack of protection or application against the virus.

Researchers have stated that the illogical panic-buying of toilet paper may be a psychological reaction to increased feelings of disgust during a pandemic.

Videos and images posted on social media of South Africans queuing at Makro on 16 March 2020 are posted below.

Makro queues

This is Makro Strubens Valley l. The queue goes round the entire store and past the start again

I didn’t shop….. Walked out. Not a chance. pic.twitter.com/nzuNzjTpYG — Cindy Poluta (@CindyPoluta) March 16, 2020

Now read: 62 confirmed cases of coronavirus in South Africa