The great toilet paper scare: No known connection to virus

FPI / March 15, 2020

An Alabama toilet paper manufacturer has officially weighed in: America will not run out of toilet paper.

While demand is two times normal amid the coronavirus outbreak, existing inventory should be enough to meet demand, said Eric Abercrombie, a spokesman for Georgia-Pacific.

Georgia-Pacific also has a business-to-business side, which supplies offices, theme parks, hotels, restaurants and resorts. As Americans curtail travel and social activities to stem the spread of the virus, the company expects that demand to shrink. While the market picks up in one sector, it is slowing in the other.

“We’re a market-based company, so we’ll continue to review and adjust to meet any demand,” Abercrombie said.

Toilet paper does not offer special protection against the virus.

Former coronavirus patient Jerri Jorgensen said Friday that the hysteria surrounding the coronavirus has “gotten out of control.”

“All the toilet paper being gone — I don’t get the toilet paper,” Jorgensen told “Fox & Friends.”

At the same time, Georgia-Pacific also manufactures hand sanitizer products for businesses and the medical industry. Abercrombie said demand for hand sanitizer is currently ten times the normal amount.

"When people thought of staying in for a month or so, they think of what they might need, even if it isn’t in short supply," Nick Arama wrote for RedState on March 15. "Plus they see other people buying it, so they buy, creating a shortage when there wasn’t one, creating even more panic buying efforts. It feeds on itself. And we aren’t the only folks freaking out over it, it’s happening in other places like the UK and Australia as well."

The Daily Caller reported that some are attempting to use the coronavirus to make a big profit.

" 'Disaster capitalism' is when individuals or the government use a major disaster and aim to profit off of it," Daily Caller media reporter Shelby Talcott noted on March 14. "This can be in terms of economic policies from the government, or even the simple act of price raising as the demand for certain goods goes up."

Some reports have said people are hoarding toilet paper to sell at a huge markup on Amazon.

For example, Talcott noted, "a standard pack of 18 mega rolls of toilet paper goes for $17.88 online at Walmart. On Amazon, the same number of toilet paper rolls are currently being sold for up to $200 because of the novel coronavirus pandemic."

The person attempting to sell the toilet paper for $200 was reported to Amazon. A post to Twitter noted: "Do not pay $200 for toilet paper when you probably have a shower right next to your toilet."

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