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Daily Record
Daily Record
World
Ed McConnell & Peter Davidson

Coronavirus Tesco rationing begins as supermarket limits products to five per shopper

Tesco is rationing a number of products as they attempt to battle to get a handle on the coronavirus panic buying across the country.

Customers have been stripping shelves of hand sanitiser , toilet roll and baked beans as the deadly virus spreads throughout Scotland.

Bosses at the supermarket giant have taken the decision to limit shoppers to five items each of UHT milk, pasta and baked beans.

On its website, customers are told they have reached an item limit when attempting to order the products.

People are panicking buying toilet roll (Lydia Stephens)

The move comes as the number of cases in the UK soared to 209, rising by 45 on Saturday, after a second death was recorded in the UK, the Mirror reports.

In Scotland, it was announced on Saturday that another five people had tested positive.

It means 16 people have contracted the deadly disease.

It comes as videos were posted showing hoards of manic shoppers pushing trolleys piled high with long-life goods.

At Costco in Chingford, London , shoppers were limited to one case of water each due to reported shortages.

The man who filmed the panicked scenes said it was "very over the top" and people were "fighting and pushing in front of each other."

Meanwhile confirmed cases jumped by 45 to 209 yesterday - the biggest leap yet. And a second person, an 83-year-old great-grandfather who had been on a cruise, died from the virus.

Tesco is also limiting purchases of children's cough medicine, Calpol , wipes and sprays.

Prices of hard-to-find hand gel have sky rocketed since cases were reported in the UK, with some online retailers stocking it at 5,000% more than normal, despite the fact medical experts say washing your hand with soap and water is more effective.

Tesco is limiting people from buying certain products due to the coronavirus (PA)

Masks, gloves and other protective products were also being snapped up.

Exploitative retailers inflating prices have previously been warned they could face prosecution.

World famous microbiologist Dr Peter Piot , who was one of the scientists at the forefront of the battle against Aids and helped discover Ebola, has warned the outbreak could last for six months and peak at Easter.

He added during an interview with The Times that it could resurface at winter meaning the quest for a vaccine, which is currently expected to take 18 months, is of great importance.

Dr Peter Piot says the virus could last several months (Getty Images)

The government's worst case scenario would see 80% of the population infected, with a mortality rate of around 1%, but Dr Piot didn't think it would be that bad.

The mortality rate given by the World Health Organisation earlier this month was 3.4% but doesn't account for the anticipated large number of unconfirmed cases of people with the virus.

So far more than 100,000 have contracted COVID-19 globally and 3,600 have died, mainly in China where the outbreak started at the end of December.

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