Covid-19 scare: Kolkata malls to remain shut on Sunday, for sanitization – Times of India

KOLKATA: The Quest Mall in Park Circus has shut down for three days from Friday for sanitization. The other malls — Acropolis, South City, Forum and City Centre I & II, too, will stay shut on Sunday for the same reason.
Sushil Mohta, the chairman of Merlin Group and director of South City, said Sunday is the best day for sanitization and given the situation, its also good for taking precaution.
Incidentally, Prime Minister Modi has also called for a “Janata Curfew” on Sunday, which may also lead to lesser footfall. However, a grocery hypermart in Quest and South City Mall, will remain open.
The Quest Mall will start functioning again on March 23, a circular sent to the retailers said. This is being done to sanitize the mall and encourage social distancing, authorities said.
“This is being done to ensure the safety of our retailers and customers. We will, however, allow the hypermarket to operate because it serves day-to-day needs of our customers,” said Sanjeev Mehra, spokesperson for Quest. On Friday, the hypermart opened at 2 pm.
South City, Forum, Acropolis, and City Centre I & II, have decided to stay shut on Sunday and completely sanitize the premises. South City Mall will allow a hypermart to operate on Sunday but Acropolis said it will keep everything, including the hypermart, closed. “The idea is to encourage social distancing. If we keep the hypermart open, the purpose will be defeated,” said K Vijayan, mall head of Acropolis.
South City mall has changed its timings from Saturday till further notice. The mall will now open at noon and shut at 8:30pm, instead of its usual 10am-to-10pm schedule.
“We are doing this to bring down the peak-hour crowd. We are also allowing seating at alternate tables in our food court to maintain social distancing,” said Dip Biswas, DGM of the mall.
A slew of measures have been brought in by all the mall authorities to cope the Covid-19. All touch points are being sanitized on an hourly basis. Some malls have even introduced wash basins for handwashing. The City Centre malls are using toothpicks to touch elevator call buttons both inside and outside.
Disposable cups with toothpicks have been provided outside elevators. Touch points, include hand rails of elevators, door knobs, flush handles and taps at basins. These are being sanitized on an hourly basis. Touch points include hand rails of elevators, door knobs, flush handles and taps at basins. These are being sanitised on an hourly basis.

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