//NJ, I've been in half a dozen supermarkets (in different chains) in the past week, mostly looking for things that weren't there, but not once did I come across anything like a scrum.//
I described my visit in another thread. I spent an hour queuing in a shopping aisle with lunatics around me stripping the shelves of anything they could lay their hands on. I poked my head in again this morning and it was identical. So I just went to the pub for a coffee instead. Wherever you live you are fortunate.
//Is there an equivalency between going to the pub and going to buy food at a supermarket?//
I would've thought that one was a necessity, and the other, not so much.//
It's eating and drinking that's the necessity. I'd rather do it in the far less hazardous surroundings of a quiet pub than in a crowded supermarket. Of course pubs, bars and restaurants will ultimately be closed (there's talk that it may happen in London today) and I doubt it will make much difference to the spread. It certainly didn't in Italy. Until that happens I'm afraid the government's advice will fall on many deaf ears - mine included for the reasons I've given.