Paramedics called as panic buying hits Woolworths and Coles

Paramedics tended to a man amid frenzied shopping scenes as Greater Sydney and surrounding areas went into lockdown on Saturday.

A NSW Ambulance spokesperson told Yahoo News Australia paramedics attended a property at Kingsway, Miranda on Saturday about 5.15pm after a 20-year-old man dislocated his knee.

On social media, unconfirmed reports claimed the man was caught up in panic buying at Woolworths.

An ambulance spokesperson said the man did not require transport to hospital and was treated on site.

Woolworths denied a man was injured in its Miranda supermarket as authorites continue to denounce panic buying.

An empty Woolworths toilet paper shelf in Woy Woy.
A Woolworths toilet paper shelf in Woy Woy on Saturday. Source: Yahoo News Australia

Images shared on Twitter on Saturday afternoon showed empty shelves as shoppers stripped supermarkets bare across the NSW coast.

One man tweeted photos of empty bread and meat shelves at Woolworths, calling it “ridiculous and unnecessary panic buying."

A woman shared photos of empty toilet paper shelves in Woolies at Bowral while a shopper at Coles at The Entrance was pictured stacking their trolley with toilet paper and paper towels.

Toilet paper shelves were also pictured empty at a Woolies in Woy Woy.

Coles has since re-introduced a two-product limit per customer for toilet paper across its NSW supermarkets.

Police call for people to stop supermarket panic buying

NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Gary Worboys told reporters on Sunday that panic buying was unnecessary.

“When we look at some of this panic buying, again we shake our heads. It is simply not required," he said.

"People should not do that. It should only cause angst in the community and we ask the people be sensible in that regard from here on in."

Dep Comm Worboys said people packed a Woolworths in Kellyville on Saturday, trying to use the QR code to check-in.

“Police were called and it was a pleasing result," he said.

"People need to really take heed that department stores and supermarkets are trying their best and they need people to abide by the 1.5 (metre rule), they need people to put their masks on and they need people to be patient.”

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