Some people don’t leave their homes without chapstick, while others like Red Deer’s Cheyanne Rentz don’t like to be without hand sanitizer.
Rentz, 24, says she is always on the go. With that kind of life hand sanitizer can prove essential and useful.
“I’m constantly on the go, and when me and my kids even go grocery shopping, I’m constantly wiping down carts, and our hands, when we go in and when we come out,” she explained.
On Friday, the Red Deer mom went hand sanitizer shopping, but could not find any at the three stores she checked: two dollar stores in Red Deer and Walmart in the north.
“That’s a first for sure,” she said.
She points to the ongoing coronavirus. At least 58 people in Canada have COVID-19: 27 confirmed cases in B.C., 28 in Ontario, two in Quebec and one in Alberta, as of Sunday afternoon.
“I asked them (at one of the dollar stores), they said some guy came in and bought their whole stock,” she explained.
The Red Deer woman had also heard from a friend Friday night that a dollar store in Sylvan Lake was also sold out.
“They told her the same thing that someone had bought their whole stock out.”
The friend had also checked Sylvan Lake Walmart store and someone told her there that they’ve been out for a while.
The Red Deer woman is hoping there will be more in stock when she checks again Monday, especially at bigger stores like Walmart.
Using hand sanitizer is a habit Rentz has gotten into for the last several years, to protect both her three and five year girls, and herself, from say the common flu and any germs.
Of course soap and water is always an option, but it may or may not be around, the woman said.
Referring to a post on Facebook, Rentz said, some of the other stores in Red Deer have also been sold out.
She has found some recipes online to make hand sanitizer at home – something the woman will consider if she can’t find any in stores.
The woman said she is not too concerned about coronavirus, but protecting ourselves and others by washing hands regularly and using hand sanitizers can always help.
On Sunday, Alberta announced its first confirmed case of the novel coronavirus and three presumptive cases in the province.
mamta.lulla@reddeeradvocate.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter