Panic buyers have been emptying shelves across the US and cops are telling people to stop calling 911 over line-skippers as thousands flood to stores to stockpile over coronavirus fears.

Manhattan shoppers mobbed a Trader Joe’s store in New York as widespread panic buying continues over coronavirus fears.

A long line of shoppers were seen queuing down the street outside the Trader Joe’s store in Manhattan’s Lower East Side on Friday afternoon, as President Trump announced he was calling a national emergency across the US.

The usually quiet store was bombarded by a queue of around 50 shoppers desperately trying to stock up on emergency supplies.

The line snaked right along the outside of the store onto Clinton Street, before store assistants opened the doors letting the New Yorkers flood in all at once and rinse the shelves of all goods.

Manhattan, New York: Shoppers mobbed a Trader Joe’s store in New York as widespread panic buying continues over coronavirus fears

Manhattan, New York: A long line of shoppers were seen queuing down the street outside the Trader Joe’s store in Manhattan’s Lower East Side on Friday afternoon, as President Trump announced he was calling a national emergency across the US

Manhattan, New York: The usually quiet store was bombarded by a queue of around 50 shoppers desperately trying to stock up on emergency supplies

Manhattan, New York: The line snaked right along the outside of the store onto Clinton Street, before store assistants opened the doors letting the New Yorkers flood in all at once and rinse the shelves of all goods

Manhattan, New York: Empty shelves at Trader Joe's in Lower East Side after frantic shoppers cleared shelves

The stockpiling in the Big Apple came after LA cops told frantic shoppers in California to stop calling 911 over people cutting lines outside stores, as widespread panic buying over coronavirus fears consumes America.

One shopper called 911 on Thursday to report a huge fight involving more than 1,000 people over supplies including toilet paper and bottled water at a Costco in Cancon County, Santa Clarita.

Maryland, Virginia: Shelves normally stocked with water and Gatorade sit empty at a giant supermarket store

Maryland, Virginia: Shelves normally stocked with pasta sauces sit empty at a Target store as people stockpile supplies

Officers were called to the scene at around 9:45am to attend to what the caller described as 'multiple groups of people fighting outside the store,' said Shirley Miller, spokesperson for the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station

Miller said cops arrived to find the reports to be false and that the 'person called because customers were cutting in line'.

California: LA cops told frantic shoppers to stop calling 911 over people cutting lines outside stores, after one shopper called 911 on Thursday to report a huge fight involving more than 1,000 people over supplies at a Costco in Cancon County, Santa Clarita (above) that turned out to be false

California: Hundreds of shoppers joined a huge line in the parking lot outside the Costco store on Thursday

California: Aerial footage taken at around 10am shows eager members of the public in Santa Clarita with empty shopping karts rushing to stock up on toilet paper, bottled water, disinfectant wipes and sanitizer

The sheriff's department tweeted telling shoppers to stop wasting police time: 'Please don’t call 911 because people are cutting in front of you in line at the store. It ties up valuable resources for real emergencies!'

'All is calm over at Costco,' the Sheriff's Department later added.

'Yes, there are long lines but contrary to what a 911 caller said, there are no fights.'

South Beach, Miami: Anxious shoppers are pictured panic buying in Trader Joe's grocery store

Everett, MA: Shoppers emerge from a Costco Wednesday after waiting in a line that snaked around the interior of the store on the day that Coronavirus was declared a pandemic by the WHO

Everett, MA: Shoppers have been pictured lining up with shopping carts overflowing with bundles of toilet paper, crates of bottled water and dozens of cans of tinned food

The police warning to shoppers came after officers were called to similar reports at a Californian Costco store last week.

Deputies from the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department responded to the Chino Hills store after a call was made claiming customers had become aggressive when it ran out of bottled water and toilet paper.

Again, the claims of violence was found to be false.

This graph shows the escalation of coronavirus cases in the United States since January. As of midnight on Friday, 2,299 people had been infected, and 50 had died

People across the US have gone into a shopping frenzy over the last week, with queues snaking through parking lots waiting for stores to open.

Shelves lie empty as people stock up on essential items and emergency supplies in anticipation of a potential lockdown situation similar to that seen across the whole of Italy.

Demand for hand sanitizer, disinfectant sprays and wipes and similar goods has especially increased as people desperately try to keep the deadly coronavirus at bay.

Sales of hand sanitizer in the US rocketed 73 per cent in the four weeks to February 22, according to Nielsen data, and analysts predict this won't slow down 'for some time'.

Several stores have taken to rationing the volume of certain products in efforts to spread the supply among community members.

LA: Empty shelves in a Costco store. People across the US have gone into a shopping frenzy over the last week, with queues snaking through parking lots waiting for stores to open

LA: Shelves lie empty in this store as people stock up on essential items and emergency supplies in anticipation of a potential lockdown situation similar to that seen across the whole of Italy

Broward County, Florida: Empty shelves in a Walmart store: Demand for hand sanitizer, disinfectant sprays and wipes and similar goods has especially increased as people desperately try to keep the deadly coronavirus at bay

Costco tightened its rationing rules last week - reducing the number of packets of flour, sugar and rice each customer is allowed to buy from five to two per customer.

Kroger too has placed limits on the number of sanitizers and cold and flu products shoppers can buy online.

The mania has been triggered by fears that households will be forced to lie low in quarantine for 14 days as cases of coronavirus mount across the US.

The death toll reached 42 in the US and there were 2,037 cases and counting of the virus as of Friday afternoon.

These concerns will only grow as President Trump is poised to declare a national emergency over the coronavirus pandemic.

The Department of Homeland Security and the American Red Cross have already recommended that people have a two-week supply of food and water.