Until the other day, someone wearing a mask in a public place invited curious glances, today someone not wearing one gets dirty looks. Welcome to the new normal. On Monday, people went about their work with their faces covered as Kolkata reopened after being under lockdown since March 23.<\/p>\n
Coronavirus, June 8 updates<\/a> | State Helpline numbers for COVID-19<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n But in the sweltering heat, anxiety hung heavily in the air as citizens appeared to be acutely aware that the worst is yet to come as far as the spread of COVID-19<\/a> in the country is concerned. Even the children on Park Street who ask passersby for money saying they hadn\u2019t eaten in days, wore masks.<\/p>\n It was not just the anxiety. Even the destruction caused by Cyclone Amphan was all too evident, with parts of the city now looking bald. The high-velocity winds that pounded Kolkata on May 20 blew away every single billboard dotting the Maa flyover, many of which hailed Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as \u2018Bengal\u2019s pride\u2019.<\/p>\n On Park Street, the city\u2019s nerve centre, a few of those billboards are still intact but they no longer matter because lay Kolkatans, like their counterparts across the country, today have preoccupations more pressing than politics, such as protecting themselves from the virus and at the same time keeping their kitchen fires burning.<\/p>\n Interactive map of confirmed coronavirus cases in India<\/a> <\/strong>|<\/strong> e-Book on COVID-19<\/a> <\/strong>| <\/strong>State-wise tracker for coronavirus cases, deaths and testing rates<\/a><\/p>\n Restaurants were to open on Monday but none of the famed eateries of Park Street \u2014 with the exception of Flury\u2019s \u2014 had opened at least till lunchtime. Flury\u2019s, famous for its English breakfast, had opened at 7.30 a.m. and, according to the manager, even had a few customers. But when this reporter stepped into the place at lunchtime, when it would be packed during pre-COVID days, there was not a single patron. Here the reporter\u2019s temperature was checked with a thermal gun \u2014 97.5 \u2014 but at the Nature\u2019s Basket next door, where well-to-do citizens shopped for groceries, the temperature had altered to 95.7.<\/p>\n While standalone stores remained opened but saw almost no customers, the sidewalks were completely occupied with parked cars, an indication that people were out on business but not necessarily to shop. The sidewalks of Dalhousie Square or BBD Bagh \u2014 the \u201coffice area\u201d of Kolkata \u2014 too remained crammed with parked cars and bikes. Most of the shops were open and fruit-sellers had returned to their positions on the pavements.<\/p>\nBlown away billboards<\/h2>\n
Not necessarily to shop<\/h2>\n