Some community pharmacists have taken to social media to express their concern over what they regard as mounting tension among patients as Covid-19 infections rise once more.

Independent pharmacy contractor and former National Pharmacy Association Board member Mike Hewitson took to Twitter to say he felt a “rising tide of panic from patients.”

“Have any other pharmacists got a strange sense of deja-vu at the moment? This feels like February all over again,” he tweeted.

There are concerns that if the UK falls into a second national lockdown, it could spark another period of frenzied buying from people eager to stock up on food, toiletries and medicines.

Hewitson said patients were “starting to become unreasonable again, ‘effin and blindin’ at staff” and were “ignoring restrictions.”

He also said his prescription volume “feels up” but added it was “too short a snapshot to tell if this is real or just timing.”

His comments drew a response from other pharmacists.

One pharmacist, Neelm Saini, agreed with Hewitson and replied “in a word – yes,” while another pharmacist, J Patel, tweeted: “The panic as set in definitely. People are turning (up) far too early for prescriptions to collect. Volumes have gone up and (we) see more patients for advice as they can’t get an appointment from a GP.”

Salim Patel, who said he has been working in Brockworth, insisted “the natives are getting restless.”

Are you experiencing the same issues as Covid-19 infections rise? If so, tell us your experiences by emailing neil.trainis@1530.com