With the beginning of the monsoon season, Salalah has been witnessing visitors, the volume of which increased in the last couple of days due to the announcement of the Eid holidays.
@patkaushal -
With the start of the weekend, Salalah witnessed many visitors from all parts of the Sultanate. The visitors have reasons – they have long Eid al Adha holiday, heat and humidity in other parts of the Sultanate. On top of it is Khareef which is on its peak now in Salalah.
No reason, however, can be allowed to prevail over the pandemic situation, which the Sultanate is handling with all seriousness.
The latest decision of extending total lockdown from three days to four days (Originally from July 21 to 23, extended till 24) has come as a relief for many who were of the opinion that free flow of people to Salalah would end up in the surge of cases after the Eid holiday.
“The decision will restrict people’s movement for those four days. Even if they plan to visit Salalah, they will stay put in hotels or resorts. There is no chance of their mingling with others. This is the best example of crowd management during this time of the pandemic,” said Mirbat resident Mohammed Ba Omar.
With the beginning of the monsoon season, Salalah has been witnessing visitors, the volume of which increased in the last couple of days due to the announcement of the Eid holidays.
Another good decision is permission to enter Dhofar only to those who have taken the first dose of the anti-Covid vaccine. This decision is not only effective in managing the pandemic, but it has also motivated many to take the vaccine to visit Salalah.
“Anyone and everyone who is moving from one place to another have to be extra cautious. If you are following pandemic protocols, your chances of safety are very high, if you are not following them, not only for you, but you are creating a bad situation for everyone in your family,” said a senior doctor at the Ministry of Health.
More than the permissible limit of people were seen in some bakery and foodstuff shops in Salalah. When contacted the shop operators, they just feigned ignorance.
“This is their job to manage the customers. They can put transparent counters. In any case crowding should not be allowed. We are in a very critical phase of pandemic,” said Ali Muqbali, who works in a government department in Muscat.
The 50 per cent norm is also helping the hoteliers manage social distancing and other pandemic protocols.
“We are doing our best to treat our customers, giving high priority to health safety. From rooms to restaurants, maximum care is being taken. We have discontinued the buffet and serving only ordered meals to avoid any crowding. We are also encouraging customers to go for room service. All these are meant for the safety of our customers,” said Manuel Levonian, General Manager of Crowne Plaza Salalah Resort.
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