Chennai Malls, Shopping Districts Reopen Amid Delta Plus Scare

Unlocking the city and eventually the state is a calculated risk the new government has to take to strike a balance between life and livelihood.

Malls, textile and jewellery showrooms reopened in Chennai Monday after weeks of shutdown triggered by the second wave of the pandemic even as the Centre called for "stringent" response to the rapidly spreading Delta Plus Covid variant. The city's Express Avenue mall reopened all its showrooms - more than 200 of them - with strict adherence to Covid protocols. "We have vaccinated all employees working at the mall. They have to produce their vaccine certificate as they enter the premises," Munish Khanna, the mall's Chief Revenue Officer, told NDTV. At a footware showroom in the mall, Ananya and her friend Harini couldn't wait to buy their favourite pair. It was a refreshing break after being holed up in their homes since December, they said.