Toilet paper panic buying in Hong Kong over shortage rumours

A customer wearing a protective face mask walks past the empty shelves of the rice goods section at a supermarket in Hong Kong, China, on Wednesday. - Bloomberg

HONG KONG (Bloomberg): Hong Kong has been struggling with a shortage of face masks to protect against the coronavirus outbreak. Now it could be facing a run on toilet paper.

Toilet rolls were unavailable in supermarkets in parts of the city as posts circulated on social media showing empty shelves and shoppers lining up to snag rolls, fuelling the latest shortage in a city that is increasingly trying to isolate itself from China to keep the virus from spreading.