With the COVID-19 daily case count dropping steadily, the Supreme Committee’s decision to end the night movement ban from Saturday, August 21, was received with excitement by many, especially small and medium-size enterprises in the city. Mobile phone repairs shops, shawarma stalls, fruits and vegetable sellers and barbers, among others, are now hopeful of seeing business pick up again. 

For this category of businesses, activities start in the evening and peak at about 8pm to 9pm. “I am excited about the end of the night movement ban. Most of my customers come at night. Lifting the night movement ban is welcome news,” said Warda al Tauqi, owner of a fruits and vegetable shop in Amerat.

For barbers, too, much of their business is carried out in the evening and following the news of the end of the night movement ban, Jamal Mohammad, a barber in Ruwi, is relieved.

“Most of my customers came in the evening, but due to the night lockdown, we had very few customers. We will now be free to open until our last customer,” he said.

Ali Khalfan, who runs an electronics shop, informed that business was suffering. “Customers can’t come in the day as they have to go work, and in the evening, they needed to rush back home before the lockdown. But now they’ll have all the time which will help business get back on track.”

Lifting the night movement ban comes as a relief to customers, too. “I am always busy with office work during the day. The only time I have to go out and for personal errands is at night. With the 10pm to 4am movement ban, it was impossible to go out for any personal work,” said Fuad al Farsi, a resident of Ghubra. “Things are slowly going back to normal.”