What To Stock Up On: Health Official Advises How To Prepare For Extended Home Stays Because Of COVID-19

Many grocery stores in Wisconsin are being cleaned out of bottled water, hand sanitizer, cleaning supplies and toilet paper as residents prepare for the possibility of staying home because of the new coronavirus.

With the number of positive cases of COVID-19 growing in Wisconsin, residents are taking their own precautions. The shelves that hold toilet paper and cleaning supplies in the Metro Market on North Van Buren Street in Downtown Milwaukee have hardly anything on them. Shoppers were seen walking out of the store with cases of bottled water, gallons of ice cream, multiple cleaning items and bottles of wine.

Calary Gordon McDowell was shopping at the local grocery store, but said she isn’t buying additional supplies and that she doesn’t understand the hype.

“I know that people do things to put fear into us that causes us to go out and buy all these sanitizers and masks,” McDowell said. “I fully believe that if I take good care of myself, wash my hands and do what I’m supposed to do, I’ll be fine.”

But other residents like Derek, who didn’t want to use his last name, said that he and his wife bought additional supplies as a precaution. He explained that their main concern was having enough food, so they stocked up on frozen food to put in their deep freezer.

“We are preparing for the worst, but I’m not going to stop what I do in my normal daily life until they tell me you can’t,” he said.

Multiple business and colleges across the state are taking precautions by limiting face-to-face contact by allowing employees and students to work or take classes from home.

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are encouraging people who have traveled to an area with community spread or have been close to someone who might have contracted the virus, to self-quarantine for 14 days.

DHS Secretary Andrea Palm said during a press conference Thursday that Wisconsinites should plan like any outbreak or national disaster.

“If you haven’t already done so we encourage you to put together a two-week supply of food,” Palm said. “Think about your medicines, your prescription drugs, your pets and other plans you would normally think about putting in place for a natural disaster or other preparedness activities you normally do.”

Palm was alongside Gov. Tony Evers as he declared a public health emergency due to the coronavirus cases in the state.

Evers said that state officials have been working aggressively to slow the spread of the virus. The declaration allows the state to get additional resources to help protect residents.

“We cannot do this alone, we need all hands-on deck to protect the public from COVID-19,” Evers said.

Metro Market’s parent company, the Kroger Co., didn’t respond to a request for comment.