Coronavirus lockdown: Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Friday allowed the opening of all the shops in the country with many conditions. The shops which are registered under the Shops and Establishments Act of States and Union Territories are allowed to open, however, shops in shopping malls will continue to remain shut. Moreover, these relaxations are not functional in the containment/hotspot zones.
Further, the new order also states that non-kirana shops like beauty salons, electrical shops, stationery shops, and dry cleaners etc can also reopen but with limited capacity. Union Home Ministry’s late-night order also suggested that all the shop owners will have to abide by all the lockdown rules like the use of masks, gloves, and maintaining social distancing will be compulsory.
Further, the shops which are in multi-brand or single brand malls will not be allowed to open until further orders. In India, the total number of coronavirus cases has now crossed 23,000 that includes 17915 active cases, 4813 people who have recovered from COVID-19 and discharged and 723 people who have lost their lives due to coronavirus.
#COVID19 update
All registered shops regd under Shops & Establishment Act of respective States/ UTs, including shops in residential complexes, neighborhood & standalone shops exempted from #lockdown restrictions.Prohibited: Shops in single & multi brand malls pic.twitter.com/NNz9abgWdA
— Spokesperson, Ministry of Home Affairs (@PIBHomeAffairs) April 24, 2020
Coronavirus originated from China’s Wuhan city and withing months, it spread across all the countries. The first case in India was found in Kerala on January 30 and since then the government of India started practicing measures to avoid the spread of the virus. Further, the government has also eased lockdown rules earlier this week in non-containment zones to boost the economy.
