Most malls in the city will remain shut till Wednesday to combat the spread of Covid-19, owners said on Saturday.

South City on Prince Anwar Shah Road, which had earlier introduced truncated hours and closed restaurants, and Acropolis in Kasba have now shut down. And so have City Centre I and II, in Salt Lake and New Town respectively.

Quest at Park Circus was the first mall in the city to shut down all its operations except the hypermart in the basement from Friday.

Forum on Elgin Road will decide what to do by Sunday.

The decision was taken independently and without any government directive, mall owners said. The situation would be reviewed on Wednesday, they said.

“We might extend the closure or consider partial opening given the situation, which is evolving by the hour,” said Sushil Mohta, owner of Acropolis and a director of South City.

The malls are also mulling the option of closing the hypermarkets. “It may not be feasible to keep them open because it would mean many of the mall workers would still have to come,” an official said.

Each mall employs around between 3,000-3,500 people, depending on their size.