Life limps back to normal in Jalandhar

Ajay Joshi

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, May 18

A day after the state government announced to lift the curfew and extend the lockdown with partial relaxations, a large number of people today hit roads. Having spent almost two months in self-isolation, the residents heaved a sigh of relief as they could finally venture out.

• Also read: Plight of potters worsens amid Covid pandemic

A huge rush was witnessed at the district administration complex, where people had come to get their pending works done. Likewise, with the reopening of small shops and businesses, residents thronged markets to purchase items that they had been missing out since the imposition of the curfew. Cheerful to resume their businesses, the shopkeepers also greeted the customers with sanitisers and thermal scanners.

Apart from eateries and restaurants, the reopening of salons and barber shops also contended the locals. Salons and barber shops in various streets were seen crowded since morning hours. However, to avoid the rush, store owners asked their clients to take prior appointment before coming.

Neha, manager at B’ Lounge Unisex Salon in Urban Estate Phase-1, said to ensure the safety of visitors, they had asked them to take prior appointment. “On the first day today, only male clients arrived for haircut. We had utilised the lockdown period in conducting online classes. The staff was told to take all the precautions while providing services. Gloves, sanitisers and masks have become a new norm.”

Traffic jams witnessed

With autos, taxis, goods carriers back on roads, traffic also returned. Long queues of vehicles lead to traffic snarls at some places.

Labour shortage woes

After witnessing a huge downfall in their profit for two months, Navdeep Singh, a restaurant owner, said the sales remained minimal even on Monday, and it was expected to grow only after a week. A shortage of labour is now a major issue. Owners of many stores are either asking their workers to come back or pasting posters outside their retail outlets to recruit workforce.

1 dies of Covid, two positive in Hoshiarpur

Hoshiarpur: While two more testing positive for Covid, a person died of the virus on Monday, bringing the death toll to five in Hoshiarpur. Civil Surgeon Jasvir Singh said the 35-year-old man from Tanda block, who died in Jalandhar, was suffering from a kidney-related ailment. He was undergoing treatment at Kidney Hospital, Jalandhar. He was admitted to the hospital on May 16, where his sample was taken for Covid test. He said the sample was found positive and the patient died on May 17 at the hospital. The district Health Department had so far taken samples of 1,531 persons, of which 1,345 came out negative and 64 were yet to be reported. He said 26 samples had been found invalid. Later, Covid-19 Nodal Officer Shailesh said the duo who tested positive were among the 23 persons who came from Dubai. He said the number of positive cases in the district had gone up to 96 and five deaths had been reported so far. — OC