Wilshire Boulevard, normally one of the busiest roads in Los Angeles, is nearly empty on a Sunday afternoon as people stayed home in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Brandy Melville, a clothing chain, temporarily closed along with many other Westwood retail businesses in order to prevent the further spread of the novel coronavirus.
Long checkout lines spill into depleted aisles at Ralphs, a supermarket chain. The store had not yet limited customer occupancy as of March 13.
Pet food remained well-stocked while toilet paper shelves were empty at Ralphs. Shoppers cleared shelves of toilet paper, pasta and bottled water.
Because of high demand for certain commodities, many retailers put limits on how many items people could purchase. A sign posted on a shelf at Ralphs asked customers to limit themselves to three cases of water each.
Ralphs customers wait in long lines to check out.
A lone banana sits on the shelf at Ralphs.
The pandemic caused people to buy toilet paper en masse, leaving the shelves at Target empty. Despite restricting purchases to one bundle per person, Target still sold out of the rolls.
The pharmacy aisles did not fare any better. Customer demand left the Target pharmacy shelves short on cold and flu medicine, painkillers and cough drops.
Shoppers also raided the tortilla aisle at Target. Tortillas can be preserved for many months if frozen, making them suitable for a potential long-term quarantine.
Just like toilet paper, hand sanitizer and soap skyrocketed in demand, forcing Target to limit purchases to one bottle per customer amid a nationwide hand sanitizer shortage.
The lights of the Regency theaters in Westwood Village remain dark after the close of Los Angeles County’s movie theaters. On Thursday, LA city officials issued new rules to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. The new Safe at Home order requires, with some exceptions, that LA residents remain at home, businesses that cannot operate remotely to close, and for public gatherings to be banned.