The Western Australian shelf shortages in this headline were reported on 9 January 2022, during the Omicron wave. PerthNow attributed them to COVID-related staff absences disrupting suppliers, distribution centres and transport—not to shoppers panic-buying. This is a historical account, not a report on supermarket availability today.
What was happening in WA supermarkets?
PerthNow journalist Daryna Zadvirna reported that some metropolitan and regional stores were running low on goods during the January 2022 Omicron wave. The article described dwindling stocks of meat, cat food, toilet paper and long-life milk, and said frozen goods were running out in some stores. It also reported limits at some Coles stores on chicken, mince and sausages. These were reported conditions at some locations, not evidence that every store lacked those products.
Why did PerthNow say shelves were thinning?
The report attributed the disruption to COVID-related absences among suppliers, truck drivers and distribution-centre staff, including workers required to isolate. Its explanation was a constrained flow of goods through the supply chain, rather than customers clearing shelves in a panic.
The article reported staff shortages of up to 35% at major retailers’ distribution centres. Separately, Woolworths CEO Brad Banducci was quoted describing COVID-driven absences at his company: “To give you a sense of the magnitude of the challenge, we are experiencing Covid-driven absences of 20%+ in our distribution centres and 10%+ in our stores.” Those are distinct reported measures: the first is PerthNow’s account of shortages at major retailers’ distribution centres; the second is Banducci’s statement about Woolworths distribution centres and stores.
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What did the transport example show?
An unnamed transport company Perth depot manager told PerthNow that only two of the usual six trucks were expected to reach WA the following Monday. This was a forecast from one depot manager, not an audited delivery count or a statewide measure. The manager also said 17 of 36 employees at the company were off work in isolation in Melbourne, illustrating the staffing pressures the source described without establishing how widespread that situation was among transport operators.
What the report does—and does not—establish
The evidence for this particular headline is PerthNow’s report published 9 January 2022. It attributes the explanation and figures to the publication’s reporting, a Woolworths executive and an unnamed depot manager; it does not establish present-day shortages or independently verify every figure. The historical account supports a narrower conclusion: during that period, COVID-related workforce and logistics disruption was the explanation PerthNow gave for thinning stocks, while the article explicitly rejected panic buying as the cause.
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The same article quoted deputy chief medical officer Michael Kidd saying, “It’s important to be prepared because you won’t be able to go to your supermarket or pharmacy if you are diagnosed with COVID-19.” That was contemporaneous advice in the 2022 report, not a current medical recommendation or a reason to stockpile.
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