The Uttarakhand government on Thursday decided to let the shops selling essentials in the state to stay open for six hours instead of three to stop overcrowding in market places.
Shops selling essential articles will remain open from 7 am to 1 pm instead of just three hours till 10 am to ensure better compliance of social distancing norms which alone can curb the coronavirus spread, officials here said.
Opening shops for just three hours in the morning was leading to overcrowding at market places, they said.
Vegetables, fruits, and milk will remain available all day and vegetable vendors can go from door to door, they said.
With this, the number of coronavirus cases in Uttarakhand has climbed to four. Three other cases were reported from the Forest Research Institute (FRI), Dehradun earlier.
Coronavirus: Grocery, Dairy shops to remain open for 3 hours in Haridwar from March 24
The first coronavirus case was reported on March 15, when an Indian Forest Service (IFS) probationer with a travel history to Spain tested positive for the disease.
