Department stores follow strict Covid-19 safety to remain open

In Bangkok and other dark red provinces across Thailand, department stores have finally been allowed to reopen and it seems that many are bending over backwards to follow Covid-19 safety measures in an attempt to assure they remain open.

Department stores have been closed or severely restricted for months due to the Emergency decree and protective measures the government has taken to try to curb the spread of Covid-19. The Delta variant spread rapidly from April causing the third wave of Coronavirus in Thailand to be far more infectious and deadly than anything the country had seen previously.

Now that daily infections rates which had peaked at well above 20,000 daily cases have levelled off a bit around 15,000 infections per day, some easing has been instated, and shopping centres have been allowed to reopen. Department stores houses goods and services for leisure shopping but also a number of shops that provide necessities like groceries, medicine, and financial services.

Now as shopping centres reopen, many are seeing loads of interest in shoppers to pick up essential items they had struggled to obtain without the convenience of department stores. And now that they have slowly been reopening over the past 3 days, stores have been careful to follow strict health guidelines to keep customers safe and show that with proper hygiene practices stores can remain open with a low risk of Covid-19 infections.

Siam Paragon recently reopened a few days ago and report a steady flow of returning customers with busy shops, especially in the food courts. The Mall saw bank services and essential shopping draw a fair amount of customers across several of their locations. Both department stores expressed a commitment to Covid-19 safety as part of standard procedure, acknowledging that this is the new normal for the world we live in now.

Restaurants have started reopening, though they must operate under very strict guidelines to accept customers. All dine-in guests must show that they have received at least one vaccine using the Mor Prom application as proof. Alternately, they can show that they have already recovered from Covid-19 and therefore have a certain level of immunity and lowered risk.

SOURCE: National News Bureau of Thailand