COVID-19 Spike Triggers Panic Buying Stocks In China, Here’s What’s Buying!

Jakarta –

The wave of COVID-19 that has hit China has triggered panic buying. The community bought fever medicine, painkillers and canned peaches. This makes the stock of canned peaches increasingly scarce in both online and offline markets.

Launched by CNN, Thursday (12/15/2022), authorities detected 2,249 symptomatic cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday. 20% occurred in the capital Beijing. However, the exact number of people exposed to this virus could be much higher than reported.

Demand for cold and flu medications, such as Tylenol and Advil, has soared nationwide. People have scrambled to stockpile medicines in fear of contracting the virus.

Canned yellow peaches are considered a very nutritious food in many areas of China. This fruit is purchased by the community to fight against COVID-19. The product is now sold out in many online stores.

The popularity of canned yellow peaches prompted Dalian Leasun Food, one of the largest canned food producers in the country, to clarify. Merega pointed out that canned yellow peaches have no therapeutic effect on COVID-19.

“Canned yellow peaches are not the same as drugs!” the company said in a blog post published on Friday.

“The supply is sufficient, so there is no need to panic. There is no need to rush to buy,” Dalian Leasun Food said.

The Communist Party has also been asked to clarify the matter. The party finally issued a statement on Weibo, urging people not to hoard peaches. They called the yellow peach useless to reduce the symptoms of the disease.

Furthermore, the authorities have also appealed to the public not to stockpile medical supplies. Beijing’s municipal government said on Monday that it faces enormous pressure in the provision of medicines and medical services due to panic buying.

They have asked the public not to stockpile medicines or to call 911 if they have no symptoms.

Growing demand and supply shortages of COVID-19 drugs have actually benefited some parties. Shares of Hong Kong-listed Xinhua Pharmaceutical, China’s largest ibuprofen maker, are up 60% in the past five days.

Their shares even soared 147% in the first two weeks of December. Ibuprofen is an anti-inflammatory drug used to treat pain and fever.

The drug shortage is now spreading to mainland Hong Kong. The city’s health chief on Sunday appealed to the public not to stockpile flu medicines he didn’t need and asked the public not to overdo it.

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