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Published 16:09 IST, March 20th 2020

Dutch PM assures country has enough toilet paper for 10 years as panic-buying continues

Amid growing panic due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Dutch PM on march 19 reassured citizens by telling them that there wasn’t any shortage of toilet paper

Reported by: Riya Baibhawi
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Amid growing panic due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Prime Minister of Netherlands on March 19 reassured Dutch citizens by telling them that there wasn’t any shortage of toilet paper. Last week, the Netherlands went into a stockpiling spree leaving shelves of supermarkets empty. This comes as the Netherlands reported nearly 2,460 infected cases and 76 deaths. 

According to reports, PM Mark Rutte recently visited a supermarket to show support for the workers. While having an informal conversation with a buyer, he reportedly said that he had enough toilet paper adding that stores have the commodity on shelves again. He also assured that the country has enough toilet paper to use for the coming ten years and said that they could "poop for 10 years.” According to reports, the dutch supermarkets refilled following a stockpiling episode last week.

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Australian cafe deals with the shortage

Meanwhile, an Australian cafe has travelled back to the time when the barter system was still a thing, apparently to restock toilet papers after it ran out of its stock amid the coronavirus outbreak. According to reports, the cafe is offering coffee in exchange for toilet papers after supermarket shelves in the country went empty due to panic buying amid virus outbreak. 

Read: Dutch Health Minister Faints During Debate On Coronavirus In Parliament

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As per reports, Jaques Coffee Plantation, in Mareeba started offering coffee in exchange for the essential toiletry item when they found out they were running short of the rolls at their cafe and their suppliers were also out of stock. Toilet paper crisis has hit many countries across the globe, including the United States, where people are stocking it amid fears of complete lockdown. 

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Read: Amid Coronavirus Outbreak, Netherlands Reports First Death; Cases Soar To 82

Jaques Coffee Plantation took to its Facebook handle to inform that it is offering takeaway coffee for three rolls of toilet paper or a one-kilogram bag of beans for a pack of 36 rolls. The cafe wrote, "Help us restock or you will have to byo soon.. all our wholesale suppliers are out now too. This has gotten out of hand accepting until we have enough again... please share #desperatetimes."

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Read: Merkel Speech To Mark End Of WWII Occupation Of Netherlands

16:18 IST, March 20th 2020