ARCHBALD, Pa. — It was a busy afternoon at P&R Discount Store in the Eynon section of Archbald with customers stocking up on necessities. One aisle, in particular, had some shelves almost empty: the cleaning supply aisle.
"Oh, yeah, carts were loaded. I couldn't believe it. I don't know they're cleaning out all the shelves," Tony Gongliewski said.
"We moved some of our cleaning supplies closer so people wouldn't have to search for them. The store has been so busy that we've been having trouble keeping our shelves stocked," said store manager Ashley Ogozaly.
Ogozaly said they noticed an increase in business over the weekend with people stocking up on supplies as fears of the coronavirus rise. She hopes restocking the warehouse won't be a problem as suppliers feel the demand.
"We ordered almost double for this week," Ogozaly said. "Even some of our suppliers, we'll order stuff, and not everything will show up, so we're just hoping that the most important things like the cleaning supplies and essentials for home are going to be on our trucks this week."
With shoppers stocking up on antibacterial products, we wanted to know if doctors felt like these products would do the job.
"The alcohol-based hand sanitizers that we use in the clinics or the hospital are very effective, and they're very quick to use, too. You don't have to be at a sink," said Dr. Stanley Martin, Geisinger director of Infection Disease Department.
Cleaning products are useful to keep surfaces clean, but this strain is so new that companies can't say their product is proven to work against the virus.
"I believe that you should wash your hands. The sanitizers they have here, which I'm actually picking up because I'm out in public a lot," Robert Tellefsen said.
There are still no confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Pennsylvania.