Toilet Paper On Coronavirus Carousel In Hartford/Tolland Counties

NORTH-CENTRAL, CT — Add toilet paper to the list of things on the supply-and-demand carousel related to concerns over Coronavirus in Hartford and Tolland counties.

Take last weekend, for example. The shelves at Aldi in Vernon were just about empty of bath tissue on Sunday, save for a few packages.

At the Enfield Stop & Shop, a sign was on display, apologizing for depleted inventory on certain items related to the virus craze.

So what's going on with the TP hoarding?

CNN recently consulted Steven Taylor, author of "The Psychology of Pandemics," which examines how how people "behave and respond to pandemics." He termed reaction to Coronavirus as "widespread panic.," citing three main reasons:

• People tend to resort to extremes
• A lack of "clear direction" on where the scare is going
• Panic breeds panic — people see images of panic buyers and panic buy themselves

See the full CNN report here.

The panic over toilet paper seems to be sporadic for the time being, xdepending on the store and location.

A manager at Stew Leonard's in Newington said there has been plenty of toilet paper on the shelves.

To the north, at the Big Y store in Ellington, a clerk at the customer service desk said supplies have been fine when asked a general question about availability.

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont has a portal on the government website dedicated to "Coronavirus Preparedness." See it here.