As indicated through the Press Conference of the Prime Minister on the 1st May it has been announced that the following retail shops can open as from Monday, May 4:
- lotto booths,
- VRT testing stations,
- clothes and sportswear shops,
- jewellery shops and those of other accessories,
- bag and shoe shops,
- non-prescriptive eyewear shops,
- shops which sell perfumes;
- and other beauty products (but not beauty salons and hairdressers),
- haberdasheries and home decoration shops,
- souvenir and discount shops,
- luggage shops,
- toy shops,
- hobby shops,
- furniture shops, and
- florists will be able to re-open.
The wage supplement for these reopened shops will remain, so it is important that applications are made for the month of May are to be made here.
The requirements for these shops to reopen are being indicated below:
- Everyone who enters shops, including those open today, will be required to wear a mask;
- Every shop will only permit one client per 10sqm of store space. This criterion must be affixed to the shop so that everyone knows how many individuals can enter the shop;
- At every entrance there will be hand sanitizers so that everyone entering and exiting the shop can keep their hands clean;
- In shopping malls, no more people than the total of that number of people that the individual shops are permitted to take in may enter, and every person entering must have their temperature checked.
- Changing rooms for clothes shops cannot be used.
As a Chamber we hope that this gradual reopening will assist businesses to start the road to recovery. We are monitoring the situation, and putting forward our proposals to Government, so that specific initiatives for Gozo are taken, leading eventually the island to recover in its various economic sectors.
