One shopper at the supermarket at 9.30pm said when walking into the store she noticed people walking out with armfuls of toilet paper.

"There were at least two different shoppers coming out of the supermarket with more than one packet of toilet paper in their arms," she said.

"It encouraged me to walk past the near empty shelves and get a packet myself.

"The shelves did look empty - although it could have been a case of not being re-stocked."

Woolworths in Ararat declined to comment.

Woolworths have put a limit on the amount of toilet paper customers can purchase.

The purchase limit applies in-store and online to ensure more customers have access to toilet paper.

Woolworths, in a statement, said the limits help shore up stock levels as suppliers ramp up local production and deliveries in response to higher than usual demand.

It said teams were continuing to work hard on restocking stores with long-life food and groceries from our distribution centres.

Woolworths said that the vast majority of the products in their range remained available for customers.

EARLIER: Face masks and hand sanitiser sales have "gone through the roof" in the Wimmera as the coronavirus outbreak prompts panic buying.

Customers have been asking for up to 150 masks and 30 bottles of hand sanitiser at a time.

Chemists in Horsham and Ararat said they were struggling to keep up with demand as shortages made it difficult for some stores to restock.

Premier Daniel Andrews on Tuesday urged people to stop stockpiling goods and said that it wasn't necessary to wear face masks.

This message has been echoed by Wimmera Health Care Group's acting director of medical services, Dr John Christie, who said the best precaution against the coronavirus was not to wear a mask, but to wash hands "thoroughly and regularly".

Dr Christie said that no-one had yet been been treated for coronavirus at the Wimmera Base Hospital.

He said that people should be sensible and take precautions against the virus, as they should for any virus.

Read more: No need to stockpile goods amid virus threat: Vic Government

"The coronavirus is not considered pandemic but people should still be careful," Dr Christie said.

TerryWhite Chemmart, in Horsham said they had been unable to keep up with the request for face masks.

Pharmacist Stuart Hall said it was because their wholesalers were struggling to meet the high demand worldwide.

"We usually never sell face masks and now we have customers requesting massive quantities," Mr Hall said.

"We have had customers wanting to buy 150 face masks."

Amcal Horsham owner Bianca Inkster said they couldn't get hand sanitiser in at all.

"Hand sanitiser and masks are also going to areas of need first, like hospitals and the elderly," she said.

"We also can't stock toilet paper because wholesalers are struggling to refill supermarket shelves.

"I am hoping the issue is resolved next week."

Read more: Australia weighs new virus travel bans

Pharmasave Ararat pharmacist Jason Hosemans said hand sanitiser sales had "gone through the roof".

"We sold 30 hand sanitisers to one customer," said Mr Hosemans.

"We will have shipments come in and they get depleted immediately. We would have sold thousands of masks by now if we had access to more stock."

"Masks have been hard to get and suppliers have doubled the price," said Mr Hosemans.

A spokesperson for Woolworths in Horsham said "there has been no uplift in sales in any of the areas".

The Mail-Times has contacted Coles for comment.

Website: dhhs.vic.gov.au/novelcoronavirus or the Better Health Channel (for general information about the corona virus and what you need to do)

Do you think you have the virus? If you think you might have coronavirus or may have been in contact with someone who has, phone the Corona Virus Hotline: 1800 675 398

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