SERIOUSLY?! From July, you’ll actually have to pay to visit restaurants and cafés?!
Okay, it’s not happening yet, but one day the time will come: restaurants and cafés will reopen. Then we can do what we love so much and have been looking forward to for all these months. Go out for dinner and sit on a terrace. But that will cost you money, even before you’ve ordered a drink…
Almost a year ago (!) we cautiously wrote about it: paying to sit on a terrace: the future? According to Koninklijke Horeca Nederland (KHN), it could well happen… At the time, we wrote that it was entirely possible that prices would go up or, even worse: that we might have to pay just to be allowed onto a terrace. It sounded insane to me at the time, but a year later it’s reality. And I have something to say about that.
Moving to Spain
And I’m not the only one, because as soon as this news came out, I received messages from friends asking whether it was true. ‘Do you know anything more about this? Surely this can’t be true?’, one wrote, while another said, ‘I’m really going crazy now—let’s move to Spain.’ Yes, restaurants and cafés are open there by now, and you can go in without paying. ‘First we had to get tested if we had symptoms, and now we have to get tested without symptoms and pay just to be allowed in somewhere?!’, yet another wrote—and in my opinion, the outrage is justified.
Will sitting on a terrace and having a bite to eat become an elitist activity? Are we finally allowed out of our homes, only to be €30 poorer before we’ve even had anything to drink (a family of four—do the math)? Surely this can’t be true? Is this really happening??
Fancy a meal? Get a rapid test first
Let’s start at the beginning: it really is true. If you want to visit restaurants and cafés, from July onwards you will have to pay for a rapid coronavirus test. This is stated in a bill on access testing, which the cabinet approved on Friday. In the coming period, work will be done on the infrastructure needed to make access testing possible. Until July, the government will cover the costs. After that, everyone will be asked to pay a personal contribution. The ministry expects that contribution to come to—brace yourself—€7.50 per rapid test, which is valid for forty hours, although the amount has not yet been finalised. It is still an amount to take into account; the average cost of a rapid test is €30. From July, the ministry will contribute another €22.50 per rapid test, according to a spokesperson for the department, so you can do the math…
A tenner for a cup of coffee
Just fancy having a cup of coffee? I think I’ll drink my coffee at home instead, because apparently that will cost a tenner! And suddenly, an inflatable pub in the garden sounds very appealing too…
KHN unhappy once again
KHN feels let down once again. It already felt like a smack in the face that, despite earlier reports, restaurants and cafés would not reopen on 21 April, and now the outrage is complete. If access tests continue to cost €7.50, that will create a huge barrier and divide society in two. The use of an access test should never be a condition for reopening, says KHN.
Entrepreneurs get to choose
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Health emphasises that this is a proposal and that no decision has yet been made. It is also unclear whether proof of testing will really still be necessary from July onwards with all the planned relaxations. Presumably, the vaccination rate will already be so high by then that certain activities can also take place without proof of testing. ‘Of course, we hope that by the time citizens are asked to contribute, access testing will no longer be necessary at all because everyone will have been vaccinated,’ said the spokesperson. But whether that will be the case, of course, remains to be seen..
Entrepreneurs themselves can decide whether or not they want to participate in access testing. The practical implementation for the hospitality industry still needs to be worked out. ‘It could be that a restaurant or café is also allowed to receive guests without an access test, but then fewer guests.’ She also does not rule out the possibility that an access test will only be required, for example, for guests who want to sit inside.
Ridiculous or understandable?
I hope this turns out to be less severe than it sounds, and that everyone, whether they have a large or small budget, will soon simply be able to visit restaurants and cafés again. I don’t know what you think about this, but I’m very curious. A mandatory access test for restaurants and cafés, for which you have to pay €7.50: do you find it ridiculous or understandable? Or somewhere in between?
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Sources: Misset Horeca, nu.nl
