The reopening, promoted by the Peruvian government for a week, seeks to accelerate the revival of the economy, which fell 40% year-on-year in April.

The entrance is only allowed with masks, physical distance of at least one meter between people and each store must provide visitors with alcohol to disinfect their hands, according to the approved standard.

Each shopping center must measure body temperature before allowing access.

In Lima, where almost a third of the 33 million Peruvians live, people queued to enter the 'malls', said an AFP journalist.

The norm prohibits the entrance of minors and keeps the movie theaters located in shopping malls closed.

The cafes and restaurants of these centers may only operate with the home delivery service.

The Peruvian economy fell 13.1% in the first four months of 2020 and 2.63% in the last 12 months.

The collapse of 40.49% year-on-year in GDP in April reflects an economic collapse that contrasts with the dynamism of activity before the pandemic.

Mandatory national confinement, which began in March, left two million people in Peru unemployed, according to Economy Minister María Antonieta Alva.

Peru registers 8,045 deaths from Covid-19, an increase of 184 in the last 24 hours, and with 254,936 infections, after adding 3,598 new cases.

Peru is the second in Latin America in coronavirus cases behind Brazil and third in deaths, after the South American giant and Mexico.