Before it was announced on Thursday that the coronavirus has hit Alberta, it felt like Cochrane was rather unfazed by the news happening around the world. Toilet paper was plentiful in several stores and some eagle-eyed shoppers were still able to pick up hand-sanitizer. 

Jump ahead just five days since the announcement of several cases of the coronavirus in our province and there has been a noticeable change in that landscape in local stores here in town. 

empty shelvesEmpty shelves which used to hold hand sanitizer is now a common sight in Cochrane.

Sam, a mother of two here in Cochrane says people are going a little overboard. “Nah, I’m not worried about it. I think it kinda ridiculous that people are out just collecting toilet paper.” 

While Alex, a life long resident of town thinks it’s time to stock up “Yeah I’m worried about coronavirus in Cochrane. I think we need to stock up on toilet paper and spam.”

Kathleen, a dental assistant in Cochrane says it is affecting her work more than anything. “I’m more worried that people are buying all the masks and we’re not going to have them at our dental office in town. They’re definitely only sending us a certain number of boxes every time we order and they’re worried about a shortage for sure.”


Do you have any thoughts on the coronavirus here in Cochrane? Feel free to call 91.5 CochraneNow at (403) 981-0915 or send an email to news@cochranenow.com.