Reeling from the impact of measures implemented to curb the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), members of the business community are calling on the National COVID-19 Task Force (NCTF) to relax some measures to allow them to operate and maintain their operations.
Businesses have explained that prior to the partial national lockdown and curfew, they have been experiencing a decline in commercial activities, which resulted from the current post-elections crisis. Since the start of the month, only a few businesses in the city have been operating. Most of those businesses are not regarded as essential services and have been operating at reduced hours. However, on Friday, non-essential businesses were asked to close their operations by police following an order from the Ministry of Public Health.
Businessman Suresh Narine, who operates a wholesale beverage outlet along with a pharmacy on Robb Street, told Stabroek News that business for him has been impacted negatively due to the measures implemented.