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Srinagar, May 22: Amid Coronavirus outbreak, the Eid festivity is going to be a low key affair this year. At the same time, the bakery shopping in particular is going to be a different experience altogether.
This time over, the customers are going to find the bakers wearing mask, and the precautionary gear from head to toe-not leaving open any possibility for the infection to transmit to the customers.
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As cases of COVID-19 continue to be reported in Srinagar, the district administration made sure that the people from selected professions having maximum dealing with the people on the occasion of Eid should be called in and briefed about what they are going to face out in the market when the people throng their shops and what precautionary measures are they supposed to take.
The view inside a bakery shop is not going to be jam-packed this year, as they have been directed to take due care of social distancing measures in the wake of the pandemic apart from other guidelines.
“It was better to follow guidelines and do business, rather than doing no business,” said Muhammad Shafi, a baker in Srinagar.
The bakers are this time keeping their stock to the limited. If they were keeping in stock 10 different varieties of the bakeries, they are, this year, keeping stock of only 4-5 varieties.
The scenes at the backend are also quite different. The bakers have been directed to adhere to the SOPs not only when they are dealing with the customers, but also when they are working at the backend-baking the stuff.
In order to avoid contamination of the eatables, the bakers have been asked to sell the items only in packets. While the practice was observed at majority of places, there still were some places, where the bakery was being sold in open.
Further, there are several other bakery shops that have started the home delivery of bakery items. A bakery shop along 90ft feet road Soura is currently delivering within 3km radius. “Those who come to our shop are being given the services keeping in view the social distancing measures, also, we are also delivering the stuff to people’s homes,” said Danish Qayoom, owner of the shop.
The people also appear to be cooperating with the owners of such shops, who have additionally deployed their men making the customers to follow set guidelines. “It is not possible for us to achieve this without active participation and cooperation from the public, they are cooperating as they understand the gravity of the situation,” the bakers said.
It is pertinent to mention here that the administration has committed that it will provide the necessary gears to the bakers operating in the district in order to make sure that situation does not take an ugly turn if anyone catches the infection.
Health experts also underline the importance of such a step. They said that the shopkeepers-in this case, the bakers-can turn out to be super-spreaders if they catch the infection.
“…because they can have thousands of contacts, and that’s why taking care of this individual ahead of a festival in which he is going to have massive contacts was a must, and done well in time,” a doctor said.
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