The catering sector, not only in Cyprus but also in the rest of Europe, has been hit as hard as anyone else by the pandemic, with European governments desperately looking for ways to safely reopen the affected businesses.
In some European Union countries, restaurants and bars remain closed and in others they are closed, under strict conditions. Over the past summer, state authorities have asked catering entrepreneurs to invest a lot of money in preparing their venues for the new wave of pandemics.
All these investments, in plexiglass, antiseptics, space expansion, etc., proved insufficient to prevent the padlock when winter came and the second wave of coronavirus struck. A report by Euronews on 15 February referred to catering problems in Brussels and stressed that catering entrepreneurs are desperate almost everywhere.
Probably after 15/3
In Cyprus, the restaurant has been closed since December 11, 2020 and businessmen are waiting in line to open 1,607 restaurants and taverns, 950 fast food and package restaurants, 532 cafes, 316 bars and pubs and 693 cafes. The government, through the Minister of Health Konstantinos Ioannou, clarified its position that there is no question of reopening the restaurant from March 1. The prevailing scenario, so far, predicts that the industry will reopen from March 15 onwards, with strict restrictions. Decisions are expected to be announced today.
According to the authorities in the countries that have imposed severe lockdowns, no one knows when the restaurants will be allowed to reopen, without restrictions. According to experts, everything will depend on vaccination rates, epidemiological indicators and the state of each health system.
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