Lucknow, May 24 (IANS): Shopping complexes in the state capital, outside the containment zones, will be allowed to reopen from May 26.

However, shopping malls and multiplexes will still remain closed.

According to the order of the Lucknow district magistrate Abhisheka Prakash, only one-third of shops in a complex will operate daily on rotational basis from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. The centralized air-conditioning of the complex will remain shut, though individual shops can keep their air-conditioners on.

A maximum of three customers at a time will be allowed inside the store. All customers will have to wear masks and thermal screening of customers will be done at the entrance of the complex. Shopkeepers will have to report to health authorities immediately if they find any customer with COVID-19 symptoms.

Shop owners will have to make sanitizers available to the customer before and after transaction as well as keep record of every visitor. Shops will have to be sanitized with bleaching powder and sodium hypochlorite several times in a day.

Amarnath Mishra, senior general secretary, Lucknow Vyapar Mandal, said that the decision will help major stores of garment, electrical and electronic items and jewellery that are located in shopping complexes.

"With this decision, almost 70 per cent of the market will now remain open according to conditions laid down by the district administration," he said.