VICTORIA -- With the vast majority of Victorians self-isolating due to COVID-19, popular community classifieds website Used Victoria has released the city’s five most searched items over the past two weeks.
According to Used Victoria, island residents being stuck in self-isolation has led to dramatic changes in the website’s usual top 100 search items.
Hand sanitizer, for instance, made the top 100 list, an item that has never made the ranking before. However, Used Victoria notes that it stopped allowing hand sanitizer and similar products to be sold on the website in order to prevent price gouging.
The strangest new item to end up on Victoria’s top 100 list of used items, meanwhile, are chickens.
“That’s right, chickens,” says Used Victoria.
Searches for the animal made chickens the 86th most searched for item over the past two weeks, according to the website.
Top 5 recent searches on Used Victoria
The list of Used Victoria’s top five recent searches begins in fifth place with office equipment. The website speculates that the rise in searches for office supplies stems from many residents transitioning to home offices.
The title for fourth most searched for items by Victorians amid the COVID-19 pandemic goes to home gym equipment. Used Victoria says that weights, weight benches, barbells and dumbbells all cracked the top 100 list over the past two weeks.
Combined, searches for home gym related equipment reached 2,700.
Meanwhile, as provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry’s order for self-isolation nears its second week, Victorians appear to be turning to video game systems to help pass the time.
According to Used Victoria, searches for the Nintendo Switch jumped from 29th place to third in the past two weeks.
In second place, perhaps unsurprisingly, Victorians took to Used.ca to search for toilet paper. The website says that 3,000 searches were made for the household item over the last month.
However, Used Victoria notes that toilet paper, like hand sanitizer, is among the items that are temporarily banned from the website to prevent price gouging.
Lastly, the most searched for item in Victoria amid the COVID-19 pandemic is firewood. Used Victoria says the product was the most searched for item before the outbreak, and continues to be the website’s most sought after item.
“If what people are searching for on Used.ca is any indication, people in Victoria are taking orders to stay home seriously,” said the website Friday.
