(Updated at 4:10 p.m.) If you want to stock up on hand sanitizer and face masks, you’re going to have a tough time finding any in Arlington.
Numerous stores we checked around the county were completely out of both, amid fears over the coronavirus outbreak. Despite there being no confirmed local cases, shoppers in Arlington seem as eager to hoard supplies as others across the U.S.
The CVS store at Ballston Quarter mall was a typical scene. The shelves this afternoon were mostly bare where face masks, hand sanitizer and Lysol once stood.
Elsewhere around Arlington:
- The Harris Teeter stores in Shirlington and Pentagon City were completely out of hand sanitizer
- Ayers Hardware in Westover had only a limited supply of face masks and was imposing a per customer sales limit
- Preston’s Pharmacy on Lee Highway was out of hand sanitizer, but a clerk said customers were buying aloe and rubbing alcohol to make their own “homebrew” hand sanitizer
- Cherrydale Hardware on Lee Highway was out of masks
- Target in Rosslyn was out of hand sanitizer
If you feel you must get your hands on some hand sanitizer — or some face masks despite officials cautioning that they’re ineffective — there might be a solution. A pop-up “coronavirus supply store” opened on Florida Avenue NE in D.C. over the weekend, offering both of the above plus bleach and “preparedness kits.”
Arlington County and Arlington Public Schools officials, meanwhile, say they’re monitoring the outbreak and are continuing to make emergency preparations.
Jay Westcott contributed to this report