Buying limits have been places on facemasks at all major supermarkets in Melbourne following a surge in demand.

People living in metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire will be required to wear a face-covering when leaving home, starting from 11:59am on Wednesday, July 22. Individuals who do not comply face on-the-spot fines of $200.  Face coverings are recommended in regional Victoria in situations where it is not possible to keep 1.5 metres apart.

Woolworths is currently restricting facemasks to one per shop across all Metro Melbourne and Mitchell Shire stores, while Coles is limiting face masks to one per shop across all stores in Victoria. Aldi currently has a two-pack limit in place. Customers can buy a maximum of 50 masks from Bunnings.

Woolworths told the Herald Sun that it was monitoring the situation closely.

“Tens of thousands of boxes of masks will continue to head in to Woolworths stores across Victoria this week and more will flow through the following week, with a priority focus on hotspot areas,” the supermarket chain said.

More details to come.