Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday announced provisional measures to reopen shops shuttered abruptly by the COVID-19 lockdown.
He said the action was in lockstep with the Centre’s decision on April 25 to allow some stores to receive customers in reduced numbers in relatively less densely populated localities outside municipal and Corporation limits.
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had decreed that retail outlets registered under the Shops and Commercial Establishments Act could open fully in suburban localities.
Retail outlets in markets and residential complexes could also open up for business in such areas. Neighbourhood stores, standalone shops, and shops in residential complexes in municipal and Corporation limits can open for business. However, the easing of restrictions did not apply to curbside shops and stalls in urban localities.
With restrictions
Mr. Vijayan said the relaxed rules did not apply to multi-brand and single-brand shops and malls. The shops allowed to open for trade should only employ 50% of the staff at a time. The management should ensure social distancing norms and other recommendations of epidemiologists. They should employ workers in personal protection gear to check visitors for temperature or flu-like symptoms at the entrance. Customers and staff should wear a face mask. The police would monitor opened shops.
Mr. Vijayan said the State had asked the Centre to allow it to alter the MHA directions to suit regional requirements. Kerala is an urban continuity where towns, cities, habitation centres, and wilderness often overlap. Hence, the Centre should allow it to frame a different set of restart rules that reflect the ground situation.
Masks mandatory
The Chief Minister said close family members could ride pillion on two-wheelers, and up to three persons could travel in the same private car. However, face masks were mandatory. The relaxation would not apply to Red zone districts and hotspots. In a bid to prevent new flare-ups, the government would impose a stringent triple lockdown at such places.
Senior officers would enforce the regulations and citizens in such localities would have an only exit and entry point.
The police would block all other ingress and egress points.
The Chief Minister said traders should spend Sunday for cleaning and sanitising their establishments before receiving customers.
