Huge lineup of people waiting for Kelowna’s Costco to open today

A video posted to a Facebook group today begs the questions: Do all these people need toilet paper?

The video was taken outside the Costco in Kelowna today, March 13, and shared to the Facebook group Kelowna Costco Groupies.

It shows a long queue of people waiting for the warehouse store to open.

Eric Li, an associate UBC Okanagan professor who studies human and market trends in emergency situations, points out panic buying in crisis situations is a fairly normal reaction.

Li said they’re motivated by fear for themselves and their loved ones and what they see on social media creates the frenzy. No one needs five packs of toilet paper for the next month but we see people doing that because people follow others, he said, calling it panic buying.

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