Tri-Citians empty store shelves of sanitizer and masks over coronavirus concerns

Tri-City Herald and McClatchy news sites have lifted the paywall on this developing story, providing critical information to readers. To support vital reporting such as this, please consider a digital subscription.

-------

Tri-Citians hoping to stay free of the coronavirus may have to stick with soap and water — and two rounds of the “Happy Birthday” song — since local supplies of hand sanitizer are nearly depleted.

Store managers started seeing a rush on the alcohol-based gel Saturday after the first United States death from COVID-19 was confirmed in Washington state.

By Sunday evening, store shelves were emptied of hand sanitizer.

“There’s a demand of supplies here,” said Abel Torres, assistant manager at the Kennewick Rite Aid on North Ely Street. “Everybody is afraid and is coming in. What they want the most are hand sanitizer and masks.”

The store waited three weeks to get more face masks, and Torres said once in stock Friday they were sold out within an hour.

As for hand sanitizer, Torres said they had about a dozen customers come in so far Monday morning looking for it. All were turned away because the store is sold out of everything, from the large office-sized bottles to the tiny containers that often go in purses and backpacks.

He said people now are buying up hand sanitizer wipes and disinfecting wipes, and isn’t sure how much longer they will stay in stock.

“They’re running out at the warehouse center for everything,” Torres said. “We might get some (hand sanitizer) in on Friday, we might not. We just have to play it by ear to see if the warehouse will send it to us.”

“We can place an order, but if they don’t have it they don’t have it,” he added.

Charlie Grigg, owner of Griggs Department Store and Tri-Cities Ace Hardware, said they’re not ignoring customers’ demands and are doing their best to get supplies in stock.

However, there’s an abnormal run on these items nationwide and, if they’re coming from overseas like China, then those countries are keeping the supplies for their own battle with the fast-spreading virus, he said.

“If somebody comes in our store and wants something and we can’t get it, we’re not happy about it,” said Grigg. “We want to have what they want all the time.”

Medical facilities priority

He added that any supplies coming into this country are being funneled to medical facilities for those who already are ill or the workers caring for them.

Griggs Department Store in Pasco only had two commercial-sized foaming hand sanitizer refill bottles in stock as of Monday morning.

Grigg said they’re fortunate in that they can see ahead what is coming weekly from Ace Hardware and reserve some of those quantities for their four Tri-Cities locations.

He cautioned though that while more countertop wipes and sprays and other cleaning supplies to help kill the virus should be here Wednesday, hand sanitizer could be one to two weeks out.

The Pasco location had 100 packages of masks, with five per box, on Monday. Grigg said he is limiting what’s left to one box per customer to prevent hoarding.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website offers these five steps to washing your hands correctly:

▪ Wet your hands with clean, running water (warm or cold), turn off the tap, and apply soap.

▪ Lather your hands by rubbing them together with the soap. Lather the backs of your hands, between your fingers and under your nails.

▪ Scrub your hands for at least 20 seconds. Need a timer? Hum the “Happy Birthday” song from beginning to end twice.

▪ Rinse your hands well under clean, running water.

▪ Dry your hands using a clean towel or air dry them.

This story was originally published March 2, 2020 at 2:26 PM.