Merchants of SM Street or Mittai Theruvu in Kozhikode protested outside their shops on Monday morning against the bar on opening their establishments as the area falls in category C having a test positivity rate of 10 to 15 per cent.
The shopkeepers claimed their businesses have been shut for the last two months, and now it was becoming difficult to survive.
However, district administration and police officers told the media that as the area falls in category C — places with a Covid test positivity rate (TPR) of 10 to 15 per cent — shops cannot be allowed to open in the area.