KARACHI: After a strong rejection from the local traders’ bodies of new COVID-19 restrictions, the Sindh government today (Thursday) has extended the business hours till 8pm.
The development was announced by Sindh government spokesperson Murtaza Wahab. “This is to inform that markets in Sindh will remain open till 8 PM,” Wahab wrote on Twitter.
This is to inform that markets in #Sindh will remain open till 8 PM. It is again expected from the market associations, shop owners and citizens that due regard to SOPs shall be observed & everyone including the shopkeeper and visitor shall wear a mask
— Murtaza Wahab Siddiqui (@murtazawahab1) November 26, 2020
Murtaza Wabab also urged the shopkeepers and citizens to follow the government-devised standard operating procedures (SOPs) to contain the outbreak of the novel coronavirus. He stressed that “everyone including the shopkeeper and visitor shall wear a mask”.
The provincial government previously restricted markets and business center opening hours to 6:00am to 6:00pm on weekdays and ordered it to remain shut on weekends.
Earlier today (Thursday), Sindh Tajir Ittehad Chairperson Jameel Paracha, in a press conference, said, “We have unanimously decided that shops will close at 8pm, not before,” adding that the shopkeepers will not keep shops shut on Fridays, as is the new rule.”
Read More: COVID-19 restrictions: Karachi traders demand extended timings
During the press conference, KEDA President Muhammad Rizwan Irfan stated their markets typically neither opened at 6am nor could be. “These are no dairy farmers or meat traders,” he asserted.
