Hand sanitizers, toilet paper become arcade game prizes amid shortages due to coronavirus

Hand soap, sanitizers and toilet paper inside arcade machines at Ho!Barts Amusement Arcade. Image: Facebook/@robert.braddick

An arcade owner has decided to swap the usual teddy bears as claw machine prizes for more timely and valuable items: toilet paper and hand sanitizers.

Rob Braddick of England, United Kingdom, put up the coveted sanitary items as prizes that can be won in Ho!Barts Amusement Arcade, which he owns, as per North Devon Gazette on March 9.

The 48-year-old businessman’s antics came as the U.K. deals with panic-buying citizens amid the novel coronavirus outbreak. Toilet paper and hand sanitizers, in particular, are being emptied in supermarket shelves across the country, the report said.

“We took the teddy bears out and put hand sanitizers in one and toilet rolls in another, just for a bit of fun and to raise a smile,” he was quoted as saying.

Braddick said he found the stock of hand sanitizers inside a cupboard at his home while he bought the toilet paper rolls at the local supermarket, as per The Daily Mail on the same day.

The British government last month declared the COVID-19 outbreak as a “serious and imminent threat to public health.” The World Health Organization meanwhile has labeled the outbreak as a pandemic, urging other countries to be more aggressive in fighting the disease and its spread.

Cases of panic buying are also being reported worldwide, including countries such as Japan, South Korea, Australia and the Philippines, among others. In Japan, the government announced that it will be punishing those who resell face masks for profit amid the shortage of sanitary products. Ian Biong/JB

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