'Seriously Crazy': Panic-Shoppers Line Aisles Throughout Adelaide Costco

The line of panic-buyers in an Adelaide Costco ran all through the store, with some shoppers saying they waited two hours to purchase goods on March 18.

“We walked in and were confronted by a line near the entrance but couldn’t work out what it was for. Then after doing a lap of the store, we realised the line wove in and out through the aisles,” said Cristina Tridente who filmed this footage.

“It was insane. Some people had been lining up for almost 2 hours to pay they were saying,” she said, adding that “they had ‘traffic attendants’ to move people through” the store.

Supermarkets across Australia and the world were inundated with panicked shoppers who were stockpiling items out of fear of the spread of COVID-19. The panic-buying resulted in major shortages of goods in stores with some shoppers turning violent and fighting over items.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison slammed the hoarding behaviour in a statement to the public on March 18.

“Stop it. It is not sensible, it is not helpful and it has been one of the most disappointing things I have seen in Australian behaviour in response to this crisis,” he said in Canberra.

“That is not who we are as a people. It is not necessary. It is not something that people should be doing.” Credit: Cristina Tridente via Storyful