Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar extended the lockdown in the state till June 7 while allowing relaxations such as reopening of malls with curbs on attendance and a one hour extension of operating hours for retail shops. The corona curfew will remain in place from 10 pm to 5 am.
When the government last week extended the lockdown till May 31, it allowed the shops to operate between 7am and 12 pm by following the odd and even formula. Now, from Monday onwards, shops can stay open between 9 am and 3pm.
“We had received representations from market associations after which we decided to change the timings. However, the shops will continue to open as per the odd-even system,” Khattar said addressing a virtual press conference
The CM said malls in the state will be allowed to open from 10am to 6pm, but only one person per 25 square feet area of space will be allowed in malls and owners will have to prepare a mechanism for implementation of the regulation and get it approved from district authorities.
“For example, in a 1,000 square feet mall, 40 people will be allowed at a time, and if it has an area of 2,000 square feet, the number of people allowed at a given time will be 80,” Khattar said. He added that those allowed entry can stay inside for a limited duration, and entry of others will be permitted based on how many are inside the mall at a particular time.
{{/usCountry}}“For example, in a 1,000 square feet mall, 40 people will be allowed at a time, and if it has an area of 2,000 square feet, the number of people allowed at a given time will be 80,” Khattar said. He added that those allowed entry can stay inside for a limited duration, and entry of others will be permitted based on how many are inside the mall at a particular time.
{{/usCountry}}The government offices will be allowed to function with the presence of 50% employees. This is the fourth extension of the week-long lockdown which was first imposed in Haryana for a week from May 3 in the face of rising Covid-19 infections in the state.
Haryana has 23,094 active Covid-19 cases currently. While the positivity rate and the death count due to the disease have come down significantly following the imposition of the curbs, the cases of black fungus infections continue to cause concern.
Khattar said 50 people have died due to black fungus in the state so far, while 650 more are undergoing treatment for the infection in various hospitals.
“There have been over 750 cases of black fungus in Haryana so far. Fifty-eight have been cured while 50 people have lost their lives and 650 patients are seeking treatment,” he said.