IGA manager Chelzea Warwick said the situation was fine yesterday morning, despite reports of panic buying elsewhere due to the coronavirus threat.

She'd been thinking folks in Bellingen were showing their superior commonsense, but then she noticed the shelves had begun emptying at a rapid clip.

"They started walking out the door in the afternoon," she said. "The hand sanitisers sold out in two hours. People were buying four at a time."

Chelzea said she's expecting more stock to arrive tomorrow.

The Providore also has plenty of toilet paper but no hand sanitiser.

Manager Leonie Riley said some people had been making comments that suggested they felt a little embarrassed about their purchases.

"They've have been coming in and saying, 'We really need this, I'm not panic buying'."