After almost two months of closure, the restaurateurs in the state capital breathed a sigh of relief on Sunday and welcomed the decision by the Delhi government to allow restaurants to operate with 50 percent occupancy.
In Delhi, restaurants have been locked since April 17, when the first weekend lockdown was imposed to contain the spread of Covid-19 infection in the city.
The Delhi government initially imposed a weekly lockdown on April 19, which was then regularly extended until May 31, after which it was gradually reopened from June 1.
Prime Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced on Sunday that as of June 14th, restaurants with 50 percent capacity, weekly markets and religious places in Delhi will reopen, and said the Covid-19 situation in the city had come well under control.
He added, “We will watch the easing that allows markets and restaurants to reopen for the next week. If the Covid cases don’t increase we will continue easing, but if the cases increase we will have to lift the restrictions again.
While most food and beverage (F&B) establishments welcomed the prime minister’s decision, uncertainty about the week-long process was also a concern.
Satyajit Dhingra of Impresario Handmade Restaurants said that while they continued to deliver groceries through home deliveries and takeaways, restaurant food made up a “significant portion” of sales.
“Even if there are time and capacity restrictions, we are happy to open our doors to our customers and slowly but surely make our way back. With food accounting for nearly 80 percent of our sales, we will resume operations across town from tomorrow, “Dhingra told PTI.
Impresario Handmade restaurants include Social, Smoke House Delhi, Boss Burger, Hung-Li, and Lucknowee across the city.
Neha Gupta of Beyond Designs Bistro in Sultanpur said the restaurant’s reopening was a step towards restoring the “losses suffered over the months” by marking each alternative table as “reserved” and disinfecting the entire premises.
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“The F&B industry has been going through an extremely difficult time since the pandemic began and it has opened with any welcome capacity as diners will soon be eating out and cash flow will begin helping us take a step towards reviving the loss we have suffered Months, “said Gupta.
The Crowne Plaza in Okhla also kept business going through takeaways and home deliveries, and introduced “curated menus and meal combinations” for house guests when the restaurants were not in operation.
“We have also received orders for breakfast and packed lunches. However, we were expecting the restaurants to reopen and this announcement will be the first step in business recovery, ”said Pradipt Sinha, food and beverage director for Crowne Plaza.
The order from the DDMA states that restaurant owners are responsible for “strict adherence to the mandatory SOP and all instructions and guidelines” such as wearing masks, observing social distancing and using disinfectants.
However, the restaurants are allowed to reopen for a week on a trial basis from Monday to June 21.
If it is found during the trial week that a restaurant violates Covid-compliant behavior or the positivity rate and the number of Covid-19 infections increase, the operation will be closed “without loss of time”.
“If it is determined that the Covid-appropriate behavior in markets, market complexes, shopping malls, restaurants and / or the positivity rate, the number of Covid-19 positive people, the growth rate, etc. Then markets, market complexes, shopping malls and restaurants in Delhi will be immediate closed without loss of time in order to completely avoid and prevent an upswing and the likelihood of a next wave in NCT of Delhi, ”says the order.
Anurag Katriar, president of the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI), called it “unfair to punish an industry for blaming a few” and questioned the decision as it “can cause uncertainty among restaurateurs”.
“It takes a lot of resources, money and effort to reopen a restaurant that has been closed for two months. But if you say we could close it after a week, all restaurateurs will be unsure whether to open the business, ”said Katriar.
“Why single out an entire industry for one person’s guilt. We totally agree that if a restaurant is found guilty, it will be punished, but not the industry,” he added.
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