Secunderabad's General Bazaar textile traders shut shop till 5 July

Hyderabad: Several textile shops in General Bazaar have decided to shut shop till July 5, in the wake of the soaring Covid-19 cases in the city. A notice released by the General Bazaar Silk Cloth Merchant’s Association on June 24 said, “As the Corona cases are increasing rapidly in our area, for the safety of our customers and our team, the General Bazaar Silk Cloth Merchants Association has decided to close shops from June 25 to July 5.”

General Bazaar in Secunderabad is known for its textile and sari shops. Aravind, one of the shopkeeprs at the General Bazaar told Newsmeter , “The decision was taken for the safety of the shopkeepers as well as the customers. The number of cases are increasing in the area, and we don’t want to take any chances,” he said.

According to another shopkeeper, Veerendra, who owns 20 shops in General Bazaar, has said: “This decision is applicable to only the sari/textile shops here. We have to take care of ourselves in this scenario. Hopefully, we will be back to business by the first week of July,” he said.

As per the latest health bulletin, Telangana has crossed the 10,000 mark in the total number of Covid-19 cases reported in the state. On June 24, 891 new citizens tested positive for Covid-19, out of which 719 were from the GHMC area.

Meanwhile, Telangana health minister Eatala Rajender, on June 24, said the state was planning to increase the number of Covid-19 tests to 10,000 per day. At present, government-run hospitals and laboratories are conducting over 2,000 tests daily.

"We will increase the number of tests by 6,600 pr day. Another 2,000-3,000 tests will be conducted by private labs. In all, the state can conduct 10,000 tests a day," he said, after a visit to the Telangana Institute of Medical Sciences (TIMS) at Gachibowli here. Tests in Greater Hyderabad and surrounding areas will continue even after completing 50,000 tests, he said, adding, "We can do lakhs of tests."