Coronavirus Fears Spur Run On Long Island Supermarkets

DEER PARK, NY — As local events and venues continued to announce closures amid the coronavirus outbreak and new new cases were announced on Long Island Thursday, many residents headed to supermarkets and big box stores to stock up.

Shoppers reported empty shelves, long lines and even entirely cleared out frozen food and meat sections in some grocery stores. As more Long Islanders begin to work from home and start social distancing, many residents said they were stocking up because of uncertainty.

Kristen Anderson, of Wading River, found empty shelves at Stop & Shop in Rocky Point.

"It was pretty crowded," she told Patch. "They had more people working than usual and a lot of workers filling orders for deliveries.

"Considering that all my kids’ events and sports, even library programs, have been canceled, who knows how long they’ll actually be able to have that many employees in the store?"

Follow the latest Suffolk County coronavirus developments here.

On social media, Long Islanders shared photos of long lines and cleaned-out supermarket sections as coronavirus cancellations mounted Thursday. Fears of being quarantined, getting sick and being proactive if the epidemic grows quickly were all cited as reasons for the increase in shopping.

Anderson said she wanted to be prepared in case she fell ill.

"It also concerned me that if I got sick, I wouldn’t be able to provide for myself and my kids," she said. "I have a compromised immune system so I know it can potentially hit me hard."

Some Long Islanders attempted to use online or delivery services, like Stop & Shop's Peapod or Amazon Fresh, but there were reports of the services crashing.

Danielle DePrima in Babylon said she spent an hour checking out on Amazon Prime, but it kept crashing Wednesday night.

"I was afraid to wait since all the time slots are filling up days in advance," DePrima said. "It's like five days out now."

See the latest on coronavirus in Nassau County here.

DePrima said she usually uses the service to save time and avoid bringing her children on shopping trips. Now she said she's using the delivery system to avoid potential exposure to the virus in stores.

"But it's so pushed out, I'm having to go to the store for items I need and can't wait five days for," she said.