Huh? Are restaurants allowed to stay open after all?
After it was announced yesterday that all cafés and restaurants must close again, all kinds of talk is circulating in and beyond the corridors of power in The Hague about keeping restaurants open. There is a possibility that, following the French (Parisian) example, cafés will remain closed, but restaurants will open after all.
“We are French. We love drinking, eating, living, laughing and kissing each other,” Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said about closing cafés while keeping restaurants open—and oh boy, how I hope our government will follow this example. Infections in the hospitality industry occur mainly in cafés, and to a lesser extent in restaurants. That is why the OMT (Outbreak Management Team) also wanted an investigation into keeping restaurants open. However, the government ignored this.
Four guests and face shields
The OMT met on Monday and decided that most food and beverage establishments should close to prevent the spread of the virus, but that restaurants might be able to remain open, provided that a health check and a distance of one and a half metres were observed. In addition, servers would have to use face masks or plastic face shields, no more than four guests would be allowed to sit at a table, and the restaurant would preferably close at 10 p.m. The table could also be occupied only once per evening.
Open after all?
Whether the government will still consider allowing restaurants to remain open remains to be seen. In his press conference on Tuesday, Prime Minister Mark Rutte indicated that he was instead working on straightforward rules.
Closing feels like punishment
Koninklijke Horeca Nederland (KHN) understands that there is widespread incomprehension within the hospitality industry about the new measures: “The hospitality industry has worked incredibly hard over the past few months to provide guests with a safe environment and prevent infections—and with results; according to figures from the RIVM, the number of infections attributable to the hospitality industry was only 1.8 percent in the past week. It is therefore striking that the hospitality industry repeatedly takes the hardest blows; for hospitality entrepreneurs, this closure therefore feels like a punishment. There is widespread incomprehension within the sector.” So said Robèr Willemsen in hospitality trade magazine Entree Magazine. “For many hospitality entrepreneurs, this closure really is the final blow.”
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