COVID-19: Videos of social distancing at Kerala liquor shops just optics?

Despite the COVID-19 guidelines to cancel or avoid public gatherings and weddings, the Kerala government is yet to close state-owned beverage outlets.

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In the last few days, a few pictures and video from Kerala seem to have caught the fancy of people across the country. The images and video, which are being widely circulated on social media platforms, feature some rare scenes of social distancing that one would generally not see in front of a beverage shop.

A handful of men who have come to pick a bottle or two of alcohol are maintaining a certain distance from each other, diligently staying within the columns marked on the ground of the area leading up to the beverage counter. These are visuals shot from two outlets of the Kerala State Beverages Corporation (Bevco). At an outlet in Kannur, the men are seen maintaining distance without any lines marked on the floor.

Kerala Social Distancing at BevCo outlets #Kerala Posted by 1000 Friends of the South on Friday, March 20, 2020

However, this is not the scenario or probably the real picture everywhere. When the photographer associated with TNM visited an outlet in Thiruvananthapuram and pulled out the camera, the staff at these outlets, who are adequately geared up in masks and gloves, were seen asking the men lined up to stand within the marked spaces.

Despite the coronavirus scare, the lines in front of many liquor outlets in Kerala have not weaned. There is a considerable number of men lined up to buy alcohol, even in the afternoon hours. Many of them threw caution to the wind and could be seen standing close to each other.

Even in the viral images and video, while many are not wearing masks or visibly carrying hand sanitisers, some were careful enough to wear a mask or at least keep their helmets on or cover their face with a handkerchief (thanks to the camera) while standing close to each other in the queue.

“The staff at these outlets are scared to approach them and ask them to maintain a one-meter distance from each other while standing in the queue,” an employee who was trying to manage the queue told the photographer.

The premium retail outlets of Bevco, on the other hand, are equipped with hand sanitisers for its customers.

When the video and pictures of this rare scene surfaced, many lauded the men for following the social distance protocol.

However, many others criticised the government for closing schools and public spaces and discouraging public gatherings yet not closing its Bevco outlets.

Read: COVID-19: Kerala bars and beverage outlets continue to function, Opposition criticises

(WIth inputs from Sreekesh Raveendran Nair)