Tuesday, February 18
01:34 AM

All shops except food stores shut in Oman

25 Mar 2020

The Supreme Committee issued a decision on Monday to close all stores in Oman, inside and outside the commercial centres, with the exception of food and consumer stores, clinics, pharmacies, optical stores, animal feed stores, shops selling fertilisers and pesticides, fuel stations and cooking gas providers.

Municipality decision
Muscat Municipality also issued a decision to close all shops in Muscat, starting from March 23. The municipality stated that the decision excludes food and consumer catering stores, clinics, pharmacies and optical stores, restaurants and cafés outside malls (delivery services only) and fuel filling stations.

“With the exception of basic outlets like food and consumer catering stores, clinics, pharmacies and optical stores, restaurants and cafés outside malls which will open only for delivery services, all shops need to close down. Fuel filling stations are exempted from the decision,” a Muscat Municipality official said.

The civic body has also suspended use of pay parking metres. Parking payments will be only allowed through SMS or the Baladiyeti app.

MRMWR statement
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Regional Municipalities and Water Resources (MRMWR) has announced that the service halls at  the municipalities would be closed until further notice.

MoCI guidelines
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI) has urged commercial centres and shops to organise the shopping process for consumers and avoid crowds by taking the following precautions:

  • Organising entry process
  • 2m distance between consumers at the billing counter
  • Disinfecting shopping carts, handrails, other common areas and providing consumers with sanitisers

MoCI has urged consumers to adhere to these procedures and avoid shopping in groups and during peak hours, which is usually from 7-10pm. It has also urged people to shop online or use grocery delivery services, purchase necessary items only and not to hoard products.

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