Muscat: People in Oman are stocking up on essentials as the country goes into a total lockdown from tomorrow until July 23.
However, with the current partial lockdown that mandates closure of all commercial activities, as well as people and vehicular movement from 5pm till 4am, the total lockdown will start from Monday 5pm.
At 7am on Monday many supermarkets and convenient stores across the capital saw customers waiting for delivery trucks of milk and other daily provisions. As soon as the delivery trucks pulled up and unloading started, customers queued up to pick their quota.
“By the time I reached the diary aisle, there was just one can fresh milk left, which I picked up nevertheless.” Adil, a resident of Azaiba said.
Most of the customers at the supermarkets had come for purchase of fresh milk, bread, eggs and vegetables. Many shops were open today as early as 5am, and the shelves became empty soon, specially the diary section.
Kader of Al Alam Supermarket in Al Khuwair said that there has been a steady rush of buyers since the shop opened at 6am.
“There was a big crowd outside our store waiting for it to open. We had requested our handling agents to ensure early delivery of essential commodities like milk, bread and vegetables. Fresh stocks sold out within half an hour of our stocks arriving.”
International travellers arriving and departing Oman are exempted on showing valid travel documents during the total lockdown period. Emergency vehicles, medical staff and pharmacists are among those who are exempted from the total lockdown.
