Sanitizing and cleaning in progress at Elante the biggest Mall of the city at Industrial Area phase 1 after Chanidgarh admin ordered to open malls from Monday onwards in the UT. (Express Photo by Kamleshwar Singh)
Restaurants in Punjab will continue to remain shut for dine-in customers even beyond June 8 when the state government has allowed opening of malls, where you can shop for clothes but without trying them on, and from when you can visit places of worship but where you won’t be served ‘prasad’ or langar.
According to the guidelines issued by the Punjab government Saturday, restaurants or food courts in malls will not operate except for take away or home delivery. Guests in hotels will have to be served food in their rooms. The decision will be reviewed on June 15.
Guests in hotels will have to be served food in their rooms. The decision will be reviewed on June 15. (Express Photo by Kamleshwar Singh)
The fresh guidelines also provide for a token-based entry to malls. The system will have a provision for maximum time limit for a mall visitor. “The maximum capacity of persons allowed in each shop in the mall shall be fixed on the basis of maintenance of six-feet distance,” as per the government notification.
As per the guidelines, mall visitors are required to have COVA app on their mobile phones. However, a family can be allowed to enter a mall even if one of the members has COVA app installed in his/her phone, the guidelines said.
As per the guidelines, mall visitors are required to have COVA app on their mobile phones. (Express Photo by Kamleshwar Singh)
COVA Punjab (Corona Virus Alert) App has been developed by the state government to provide people with preventive care information and other government advisories.
The new guidelines also forbid loitering in malls. The management of the mall will ensure that not more than 50 per cent of the maximum capacity shall, at any point of time, enter the mall. Each shop shall have markers to indicate social distancing while lift shall not be used except in case of differently-abled person or medical emergency.
“Trial of clothing/accessories shall not be permitted,” according to the guidelines for shopping malls.
The new guidelines also forbid loitering in malls. (Express Photo by Kamleshwar Singh)
The religious places will be allowed to open from 5 am to 9 pm only. Not more than 20 persons are allowed at any given time and langar and prasad is not to be distributed. “The worship time should stagger in smaller groups,” according to the guidelines.
The night curfew is to be strictly enforced from 9 pm to 5 am. The guests arriving at the hotel would, however, be allowed to enter anytime considering their time of arrival from various modes of transportation.
Any violation of these guidelines and lockdown measures shall be punishable under sections 51 to 60 of the Disaster management Act, 2005 besides legal action under section 188 of Indian Penal Code (IPC), the guidelines say.