DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand state government decided to give relaxation in the timing of the opening of shops of essential items from Sunday in nine districts which are not affected by coronavirus.
Madan Kaushik, a government official, said, "The relaxation has been granted in all 9 hill districts of the state where there is no case of Covid-19 infection. The shops selling essential items will now open from 7 am to 6 pm. Instructions have been issued to follow the normal including social distancing."
Meanwhile, Nainital, Haridwar, Dehradun and Udham Singh Nagar are left out of relaxation. In these districts, time will be same as before from 7 am to 1 pm.
Till date, 50 cases have been detected in these four districts.
On Saturday, the state government had announced that hospitals in 9 districts of the hill state will start functioning from Sunday.
The state government also decided to designate four hospitals to treat Covid-19 infection in the wake of recovering patients and no rise in new cases in the state.
People started visiting outer patient departments of these 9 districts who are in need of medical attention.
Mahesh Singh, a resident of Almora district said, "I have backache for which I am consulting a doctor from the district hospital. My treatment was halted due to lockdown. At least now I can get the consultation and get much-needed relief."
The long hours of the shops of the essential items enabled people to purchase essential items more than ever since the lockdown was enforced on March 24.
"Because of the long hours now, there will be no boarding as everyone can buy essential items the whole day. This puts a check on panic and situation is almost normal now, " said Kishore Kumar from the border district of Champawat.