Eat, pray and shop: UP gears up for new normal
Govt issues guidelines for religious places, malls, offices and restaurants
LUCKNOW : Religious places will reopen, while shopping and eating out will be back on the popular menu after 73 days in Uttar Pradesh from Monday.
Offices too would open though cinema halls/multiplexes in malls and gaming zones/play areas for children will stay closed, as per guidelines issued by chief secretary Rajendra Kumar Tiwari on Saturday.
The state government’s announcement of the reopening of religious places, shopping malls, offices, food courts and restaurants was accompanied by a set of mandatory conditions.
These riders made it clear that all, including devotees, shopaholics and foodies, were in for a markedly different experience.
The guidelines also carry an advice to the elderly (above 65 years of age), those with co-morbidities, children below 10 years and pregnant women, to avoid non-emergency movement.
Face covers, social distancing with each person preferably standing six feet apart from the other, thermal scanning and sanitisation before entering any campus, be it a mall or an eatery, are mandatory. No more than five people would be allowed inside religious places at one time only but not before they have been subjected to thermal scan, which has been made mandatory for entry to shopping malls and eateries too.
Despite entry-level checks, in case anyone develops Covid-19 symptoms, inside any of these places that would be open from Monday, a call to the helpline 18001805145 has to be made. The area where the suspect case has been found needs to be isolated, according to the guidelines.
“If the suspect is confirmed to be infected, a mandatory drill to disinfect the premises would have to be undertaken,” the guidelines add.
In offices, if only one or two cases have been detected, then only the places that the Covid positive employee visited over the last 48 hours would be disinfected. But in case of several cases being found positive in a workplace, the office/campus
would have to be closed down for disinfecting it and work would resume only after authorities declare it fit.
Recorded devotional songs could be played in the temples but live group singing of bhajans (devotional hymns) would not be allowed, the guidelines said.
Devotees would also be required to carry their own mats or durries if they were to sit inside these places and though community kitchens and ‘langars’ (community kitchens run in gurudwaras) would be allowed, people would have to observe social distancing, the guidelines state.