Shops in malls to open from Aug 11, announces Kerala govt

Thiruvananthapuram: Shops in malls have been permitted to open from August 11 on the same conditions stipulated for other outlets and after making all precautionary arrangements, the Kerala government said on Saturday.

In an order issued by the Disaster Management department of the State, persons have to be deployed at all entry points of malls to ensure COVID-19 protocols, like wearing of masks, use of hand sanitisers, temperature checks and social distancing, and other conditions are strictly followed before people enter the shops.

”Special teams shall be deployed by the District Collectors to monitor the effective functioning of the Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) and to ensure that RRTs strengthen surveillance and contact tracing significantly,” the order, issued by Chief Secretary VP Joy, said.

The present order is in addition to the one issued on August 4 permitting the opening of shops, markets, banks, offices, financial institutions, factories, industrial establishments, open tourist spaces and other establishments six days a week from Monday to Saturday.

To avoid crowding, all shops and other establishments have been allowed to operate from 7 am to 9 pm from August 5, the earlier order had said.

It had also asked all shops, tourism centres and other establishments to display the status of vaccination of employees and the number of customers permitted at a time.

It shall be the responsibility of the owner of such establishments to avoid crowding inside and outside the shop and the enforcement agencies will conduct checks and take action to ensure this, the August 4 order had said.

The same conditions would be applicable to the shops in malls according to the latest order.

According to the August 4 order, schools, colleges, cinema halls, in-house dining in hotels and restaurants were to remain closed and malls were permitted to open only for online delivery and educational institutions were allowed to impart online education only.