Jérôme and Céline hurriedly fill the trunk of their car. From the parking lot of this Chronodrive store, they can see the Compiègne hospital center (Oise) where, on Tuesday evening, a case of coronavirus was confirmed. The 55-year-old man is still hospitalized in serious condition at the Amiens CHU (Somme).
It is precisely out of fear of this Covid-19 that the couple chose a drive to do their shopping. "We wanted to avoid the crowd because we have the impression that this virus is not under control," explains Jérôme, a resident of Lacroix-Saint-Ouen. The same town where the patient affected by the virus from China comes from. “Instead of € 220 usually for our cart, we forced the line to reach € 366 and not have to come out. "
"If we are forbidden to go out, we will at least have enough to last a week"
All Thursday, these shops where you can get your purchases without going to your neighbor were taken by storm in the department. "People say they are afraid," says Jordan Blin, the director of Chronodrive, a hydroalcoholic gel well installed on the desk. According to him, concerning his brand, it was only in the Oise that this beginning of panic was observed.
The manager therefore had to double his staff and 25 young people were active in the middle of the day preparing 450 orders. At 1 p.m., the record for the year had already been broken: after a 25% increase in attendance the previous day, Wednesday, a 40% increase was recorded. With a particular attraction for non-perishable foodstuffs: water, pasta, canned food…
A "Wuhan syndrome"? The Chinese city, epicenter of the coronavirus, has faced significant shortages, especially food, since the start of the crisis. Others fear quarantine. "I asked my wife to buy pasta, you never know ... If we are forbidden to go out, we will at least have enough to last a week," smiles a resident of Compiegne.
Five cases of cans
Célie is a little embarrassed when we talk about her full trunk. "Even if I come regularly, I admit to having loaded my basket more," she admits. "I even saw a lady with a mask asking me not to approach her," said Ylies, an employee in charge of filling cars. Another came to pick up… five cases of cans.
At the Intermarché drive, not far from there, Alexandre Sénéchal, the manager, left his office and requisitioned two people to deal with the influx of orders. "They are heavier than usual, with an average of more than 150 items," he analyzes.
In the shopping mall of the Carrefour hypermarket in the commercial area of Venette, a neighboring town, we are a little desperate for this refusal to meet our neighbor. But again at the drive, the cars parade. This Thursday noon, the 130 time slots of the day were full.
Double turnover
And Compiègne is not the only municipality concerned. Creil, where was initially hospitalized the resident of Vaumoise who ultimately lost his life in Paris, is not spared. "We doubled our turnover on Thursday, we expect worse in the next two days," said an official of Auchan Drive.
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The same phenomenon was observed in Beauvais, a prefecture-level city, however, located several tens of kilometers from the two cities affected by the Coronavirus. At 3 p.m., Auchan drive was already recording 50 more orders than last year for the same day…
