Muscat: After almost 10 days of extended Eid holidays, offices today resumed in Oman. Even as the weather stayed cloudy since morning with mild rains and drizzle in many parts, commuters went about their business as usual with roads looking packed.
Even though Oman was spared inclement weather following a tropical low-pressure development over the north-eastern Arabian Sea, the Public Authority for Civil Aviation (PACA) said sporadic rain and winds would still persist in parts of the country.
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Since yesterday, the night curfew and the lockdown of public places and shops in all governorates started from 9pm till 5am till the morning of August 15.
With the new lockdown in place, while many offices have gone back to their previous break-shift pattern, supermarkets and convenience stores are open on a straight shift from morning till 8pm, in adherence to the curfew hours starting from 9pm. Bigger hypermarkets like Lulu are open now from 7am till 8pm. Retails outlets in Muscat City Centre, Markaz Al Bahja and Mall of Muscat are open from 9am to 8pm. Carrefour is open from 8am to 7pm, Nesto and Spar from 7am to 8pm, KM Trading from 8am to 8pm and Noor Shopping outlets from 6am to 8pm. Most of the restaurants and coffee shops are open from 7am till 8pm.
The long holidays saw the hotels do a brisk business with staycation deals that were eagerly lapped by the residents, longing for a change of scene. Hotels in the capital like Hormuz, Marriot, W, Barr Al Jissah, and Sheraton Oman to name a few, as well as hotels in the interior towns had staycation deals on a full board basis, at attractive rates. Most of the hotels indicated that the positive outcome of the staycation deals have given them a new impetus to add a few more attractions in the packages to entice the guests for weekend deals, since vacations might take some time to take shape, given the current restrictions on travelling.
