A year in lockdown: The remarkable scenes you never thought you'd see

[BumRushDaShow]

10. "but the disease is respiratory"

One of the symptoms for many people (reportedly in some research, upwards of 1/3rd), was gastrointestinal, since there are ACE2 receptor sites in the gastrointestinal system.

For example -

Science News
Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 infects cells of the intestine

Date: May 4, 2020
Source: Hubrecht Institute
Summary: Researchers have found that the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19, can infect the cells of the intestine and multiply there. Using state-of-the-art cell culture models of the human intestine, the researchers have successfully propagated the virus in vitro, and monitored the response of the cells to the virus, providing a new cell culture model for the study of COVID-19.

FULL STORY

Researchers from the Hubrecht Institute in Utrecht, Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam, and Maastricht University in the Netherlands have found that the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19, can infect cells of the intestine and multiply there. Using state-of-the-art cell culture models of the human intestine, the researchers have successfully propagated the virus in vitro, and monitored the response of the cells to the virus, providing a new cell culture model for the study of COVID-19. These findings could explain the observation that approximately one third of COVID-19 patients experience gastrointestinal symptoms such as diarrhea, and the fact that the virus often can be detected in stool samples.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/05/200504091438.htm

However I think the issue here is that companies that make products like TP are setup for "just in time" inventory/delivery so they rarely have any "surge" capacity to produce more nor do they carry much if any excess stock in a warehouse. They keep track of stats like number of units ordered (however the rate - per day, per week, per month, per year) and tailor their production to meet that stat, perhaps with a little overage of some preset amount. They also segregated their manufacturing processes/inventories for "consumer" product vs "commercial" product, which have different regulated product sizes/configurations and packaging requirements. I.e., there are commercial TP rolls that are not made to fit on a regular consumer's dispenser/rod.

So once shelves emptied (due to a few percent of hoarders) that resulted in triggering the rush worldwide... And once restocked, the continued demand upset their complete business model. Meanwhile those who were fine for the month or so soon discovered when it came time to casually buy more, there was no stock. So eventually the desperation set in and when they did find some, they added to the rush to get some "extra" too if they could.

It wasn't until late summer/almost fall when they got somewhat close to a "normal" stock of TP on the shelves (at least around were I am).