“Where are you headed? Everything is closed,” a security guard standing at the entrance of the Beersheba BIG shopping center asked me on Sunday, “with the exception of the post office, the supermarket and the pharmacy.”
Because of the fear of the novel coronavirus, people were buying groceries while keeping a safe distance from one another.
The BIG shopping center in the southern city also appeared as if today is Yom Kippur, a day of fasting and prayer, and not a regular working day. Very few people could be seen at it seems that only people with an urgent need to go outside do so.
One business that reported more customers than usual is the new branch of Saleh Dabbah and Sons, a chain of food stores that received more patrons as people are buying more food to prepare for staying indoors.
Local manager Itzik Nazeri speaks about people gathering outside in the early morning to be first in line when the store opens. “I want to emphasis that we are not lacking any products,” he said, “people have nothing to worry about, everything is in stock and we will not exploit this moment to raise prices.”
Nazeri vowed that the store will continue to offer clients “the lowest prices in the Negev.”
The City of Beersheba decided to aid local residents by not collecting local taxes until the national coronavirus special alert is cancelled and to even overlook minor traffic regulations. Mayor Ruvik Danilovich called on residents to show “discipline and mutual aid.”