The New York Post reported that it has triggered fistfights in supermarket aisles in Australia, where one family inadvertently contributed to the crisis by ordering 48 boxes of toilet paper instead of 48 rolls, roughly 12 years' worth.

紐約郵報報導，在澳洲超市的走道上因為衛生紙引發了毆打事件，一個家庭在無意中導致這場危機的發生，他們訂購了 48 箱衛生紙而非 48 捲，大約是 12 年的用量。

Now she's sitting comfortably on more than 2,000 rolls.

「現在她安逸地坐擁超過 2000 捲衛生紙。」

The BBC reported on an audacious armed robbery at dawn in Hong Kong.

BBC 報導一則香港在清晨發生的大膽搶案。

And in Japan, Sora News said that one shopkeeper decided the only way to protect his restroom from desperate toilet paper thieves was to draw up traditional curses to protect his stash of spare loo rolls.

Sora News 報導指出，在日本，有位老闆決定用畫傳統符咒的方式，保護藏起來備用的捲筒衛生紙免於被瘋狂的衛生紙小偷所竊取。

All over the world, news of the potentially widespread COVID-19 coronavirus infection has sent folks to supermarkets and drugstores looking to hoard essentials from face masks and hand sanitizers, to nonperishable food items like canned goods, oat milk, ramen, and, yes, toilet paper.

全球新聞都在報導可能廣泛傳染的新冠病毒，導致民眾前往超市和藥局囤積必需品，從面膜、乾洗手到防腐食品如罐頭、燕麥奶、泡麵和...沒錯，衛生紙。

Shoppers in different countries were driven by different reasons for buying out toilet paper.

世界各地的民眾因為各種不同的原因，而開始搶購衛生紙。

In China, folks who had no access to surgical masks went for toilet paper because, as Australian academic Nikita Garg said, "There's a thinking that toilet paper can be substituted for tissues and napkins and to make makeshift masks."

在中國，買不到醫療口罩的民眾就轉而買衛生紙，因為根據澳洲學者 Nikita Garg 表示：「有人認為衛生紙可以取代面紙和紙巾，並用來做暫時性口罩。」

In Taiwan, toilet paper flew off the shelves because there were rumors that the island's paper stocks were being used to make surgical masks, which would subsequently affect toilet paper supplies.

在台灣，民眾將衛生紙大量從架上掃下是因為有謠言指出，台灣的紙漿原料將被用來製作醫療口罩，因此衛生紙的供給將會有所影響。

Authorities later had to deny that this was the case.

台灣政府稍後否認這項說法。

In the case of countries like the United States, Canada, and Australia, panic buying and the need to hold on to as much toilet paper one can carry is most likely driven by fear of the unknown, not by any proven or actual need for more toilet paper.

至於像是美國、加拿大和澳洲等國家，搶購並盡可能地貯存衛生紙，是出於對未知的害怕，而不是因為任何有證據或實際上對衛生紙的需求。

Clinical psychologist Steven Taylor explained to CNN: "When people are told something dangerous is coming, but all you need to do is wash your hands, the action doesn't seem proportionate to the threat. Special danger needs special precautions."

臨床心理學家 Steven Taylor 向 CNN 解釋：「當人們被告知有危險即將來臨，但能做的事只有洗手，這個舉動跟威脅似乎不成正比。不尋常的危險需要特別的預防措施。」

It doesn't help that news reports showing empty shelves urge people to believe that they're missing out if they don't go out and get more toilet paper right now.

新聞報導空無一物的衛生紙架無助於情況，而是促使民眾相信，如果現在不出門採購更多衛生紙，就會買不到了。

There is an element of where you actually do get drawn into that, a psychology where you might fear like you may miss out. A fear of missing out.

「有一個你可以確認自己是否捲入搶購熱潮的要素，就是你有沒有害怕錯失機會的心理。」

In Ireland, shoppers admitted to The Irish Times that all the panic buying was admittedly over the top, but they were doing it anyway.

在愛爾蘭，購物民眾向愛爾蘭時報坦承搶購潮已經太過頭了，但他們還是繼續囤購。

Researchers at INSEAD Singapore, where the city's toilet paper supplies were compromised early on in the crisis, said that panic buying there was also driven by an element of retail therapy.

在新加坡，衛生紙在這場危機中早已達成折衷的供給量。新加玻歐洲工商管理學院的研究者指出，搶購潮是被購物療法所驅使。

Except instead of spending money on the latest gadgets and fashion, folks bought useful items as shopping for those things reinforced their sense of control over the crisis.

與其將錢花在最新潮的小物品或時尚上，民眾轉而購買實用的物品，例如那些可以增強控制危機感的物品。

People are also spurred by the idea that a community coronavirus outbreak could result in quarantine or a lockdown, which will impose restrictions on their freedom of movement.

民眾也被以下的想法刺激，他們認為一旦社區感染爆發可能會導致隔離或封城，而使自由移動遭受限制。

Psychologist Baruch Fischhoff told CNN: "Unless people have seen official promises that everyone will be taken care of, they are left to guess at the probability of needing the extra toilet paper, sooner rather than later. The fact that there are no official promises might increase those probabilities."

心理學家 Baruch Fischhoff 告訴 CNN：「除非聽見政府正式承諾會照顧到每一個人，不然民眾只能靠著猜測認為有需要盡早備妥衛生紙的可能性。事實上沒有官方的保證會增加這類的可能性。」

More than anything else, there is a need to have a sense of control over a situation whose outcome no one can currently predict, and buying toilet paper could be one way of getting to grips with an unknown.

最重要的是，民眾需要能掌握情勢的控制感，現階段無人可以預測此情況的結果，而購買衛生紙可能是一種解決未知情形的方式。

Fischhoff said: "Depending on how people estimate the chances of needing the toilet paper, the hassle might be worth it."

Fischhoff 表示：「 依據民眾預估可能需要衛生紙的方式，或許這場麻煩是值得的。」

If it gave them the feeling that they had done everything that they could, it might free them to think about other things than coronavirus."

「如果這讓民眾感覺自己已經竭盡所能，或許會使他們不再對新冠病毒胡思亂想。」

But for some folks who think a lockdown is imminent, the fact that they went all out to build their toilet paper stash was totally worth it.

但對於那些認為封城是迫在眉睫的民眾，老實說出門囤購衛生紙這件事是很值得做的。

Frank Farley, former president of the American Psychological Association told CNN: "[The novel coronavirus] is engendering a sort of survivalist psychology, where we must live as much as possible at home and thus must 'stock up' on essentials, and that certainly includes toilet paper. After all, if we run out of [toilet paper], what do we replace it with?"

前美國心理學會主席 Frank Farley 向 CNN 表示：「新冠病毒使民眾產生活命心理，民眾認為必須盡可能地待在家，因此必須囤積必需品，衛生紙當然包含在其中。畢竟如果我們用完衛生紙的話，我們能用什麼東西替代呢？」

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