In the wake of a surge in COVID 19 cases and the detection of the new, highly contagious virus variant Omicron, domestic traders body Confederation of All India Traders CAIT has urged the central government not to impose a lockdown and instead to drive out ways and means to encourage and motivate people to adopt COVID safety protocols. The CAIT secretary general Praveen Khandelwal said that any move to impose a lock-down of shops would be a regressive step. He said that it is better to take trade associations in confidence and with the support of government machinery, the trade associations may be assigned to cooperate and devise measures to check inflow of the customer in a systematic manner while adopting covid protocols.
The shopkeepers have been advised by the CAIT to adopt a No Mask No Sale policy when dealing with customers. It said shopkeepers are using a mandatory mask by themselves and their employees as per the advice of the CAIT.
Khandelwal said that the method imposed by state governments will restrict consumer choice and affect consumer sentiments, and that the odd-even system is futile for commercial markets.
A wide awareness drive can be launched through the shops because they are the only immediate contact point of the people. The statement said that CAIT assures the government for its support in a critical time.
The Ministry of Home Affairs MHA ordered that the ongoing national directives for COVID 19 management be strictly followed throughout the country until 31 January 2022, according to the Ministry of Home Affairs. The move was made to mitigate the fast-spreading virus variant Omicron in several states and Union Territories. UTs MHA issued orders to all Chief Secretaries in the states and stressed the need for greater foresight, data analysis and strict and prompt containment actions at local and district levels, in view of the current COVID situation.
The health ministry said that India has 578 Omicron cases reported in 19 States UTs, of which 151 patients have been discharged.
The country reporter reported 6,531 COVID cases and 315 deaths in the last 24 hours.