Indian Shop Called Corona Becomes Hit In Pandemic

Story By: Alex Cope, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Newsflash

A textile shop in India named ‘Corona’ has become the talk of the town with residents stopping for selfies in front of it in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

The shop is located around in the town of Muvattupuzha around 40 kilometres from the port city of Kochi in the southeastern Indian state of Kerala and has been called Corona for several years.

The shop’s owner Pareed has revealed it has become a hit with locals with coronavirus dominating world news, saying: “Now, I am a sought after person here. While many want to take a selfie, others just smile when they look at me. I see many people travelling in vehicles and when they pass through in front of my shop, they pop their head out and take a glance.”

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The owner said he chose the name after he looked it up in the dictionary and “liked the word”.

It is unclear what language he speaks or what dictionary he used, and what the word ‘corona’ means to him.

However dictionary.com gives several meanings to the word in English, with the main one describing the word as referring to a “white or colored circle or set of concentric circles of light seen around a luminous body, especially around the sun or moon”.

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Pareed says he is working to prevent the virus from entering shop, which provides cloth materials and also has a stitching unit, offering hand sanitiser to all of his customers and other visitors to the shop.

India has suffered 142 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with three deaths.

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