Toilet Paper Companies Say Shortages Won’t Happen Again Amid Growing COVID-19 Concerns

It may seem like forever ago, but the toilet paper shortage of 2020 back at the start of the pandemic truly was one of the craziest times. With COVID-19 rapidly rising across the country, many have grown worried that more and more people will begin to stockpile toilet paper, resulting in yet another issue of empty shelves across the country. Don’t be too concerned, though, as TMZ spoke to a few people in the know who attest that there won’t be another shortage with this second wave.

A representative for Kimberly-Clark, the conglomerate that owns both Cottonelle and Scott toilet paper, told the outlet that the two companies have prepared for this money. Admittedly underprepared for the first wave, this time around, the two have switched gears, taking less investment in their other products and instead focusing on the production of toilet paper. This, of course, was a decision made just in case a wave, as the experts had warned could be coming for months, popped up once again. Another company that makes bamboo toilet paper told TMZ that they, too, had shifted their attention to solely focusing on the toilet paper product over the past few months so they could be prepared for another round of dangerously high coronavirus cases.

Looking back on that shortage, the other item that also was extremely difficult to track down was sanitizing wipes. A representative for Clorok told TMZ that they are ready for the increased demand. The story notes that nearly one million packages are being put out per day to ensure that the issue of empty shelves will not become an issue at the end of the year.

While hearing reps from these companies suggest this won’t be an issue, many shoppers across the country would beg to differ. It doesn’t take too much digging to find users sharing images on social media of empty shelves across stores, whether it’s Target or Walmart or even a smaller convenience store. This has to do with the country dealing with record-highs in daily cases, a number that has inched close to 200,000 daily cases over the past week. With cases rising ahead of the holidays, many states and cities have begun to enact restrictions on indoor dining, bars and other places where contraction of the virus are most likely, thus leading to people beginning to hunker down with supplies for the last month and a half of 2020.