Toilet Paper Shortages Have Seen Americans Raid Mexican Shops Before Border Closure

34289255 l scaled

Anthony McLennan / Truththeory

With supermarkets in the United States battling to maintain stock levels in the midst of the coronavirus crisis, U.S. citizens have been crossing the border to Mexico to buy household supplies such as toilet paper.

But that, however, is all set to end after United States President Donald Trump declared that he is to shut down the U.S. / Mexico border in order to try and contain the spread of the coronavirus.

Earlier this week WKBN 27 News reported that people from California, including San Diego and Los Angeles, are pouring into Northern Baja in order to buy toilet player, water and other items such as bread and rice.

According to employees at the Costco supermarket in Tijuana, by 10 am there had already been queues of up to 600 people waiting to get inside.

There was a case of an employee from a Costco store in Fullerton, Los Angeles named Maria Castro, who drove for two hours to buy water, rice, and beans at the Calimax Supermarket – a mile south of the Mexican border.

Another woman, Carmen Jimenez, made a trip from San Diego to the same Calimax Supermarket, to load up on toilet paper, paper towels and other stock.

But according to Jimenez, the store in Mexico was not allowing customers to buy more than four packages of any particular item.

Mexico has a substantially smaller amount of confirmed coronavirus cases and there has been the risk of Americans bringing the virus over the border.

As of Friday (16H00 GMT), the John Hopkins University coronavirus tracker showed that the United States has 14250 confirmed cases, with 205 deaths.

Only China, Italy, Spain, Iran and Germany had more reported cases.

By contrast, Mexico currently has only 164 cases, with only one fatality.

Read more: In The Midst Of A Tragic Human Pandemic, The Environment Is Flourishing

IMAGE FEATURED: Chad Zuber

Leave Comment: