False start. Kyiv indoor restaurants reopen briefly before closing again

Anyone could have a meal at their favorite indoor restaurant in Kyiv on June 5, but only for a few short hours in the morning.

Following the government’s June 3 announcement that it would allow them to reopen starting June 5, many Kyiv restaurants opened their indoor premises.

But just before noon, national and local authorities said this would not happen for Kyiv today.

The capital and seven oblasts should not be allowed to reopen indoor restaurants yet, since they don’t meet the government’s requirements for entering this stage of easing COVID-19 quarantine restrictions, Deputy Health Minister Viktor Lyashko said in a morning briefing.

So some restaurants decided to close again. But others remain open, arguing that the city authorities did not explicitly say that restaurants can’t reopen.

Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said that the city did not meet the government’s requirements in the incidence criteria: the number of COVID-19 cases should be less than 10 per 100,000 people. Kyiv has 14.9, according to Klitschko.

“Therefore, we can’t risk people’s health and ease restrictions further,” Klitschko said in a briefing. “The city will decide separately on the operation of restaurants and swimming pools… The city’s commission on emergency situations will consider this issue next week after the weekend.”

Mike Don, owner of Dom №10, Sam’s Steak House and other restaurants in Kyiv, says that his indoor restaurants will remain open since Klitschko did not explicitly say that they should do otherwise.

“He didn’t say that we can’t open. He said they will decide after the weekend. So if nobody tells us we can’t be open, we will be open. Because the national government told us we can open starting June 5,” Don told The Kyiv Post.

“I have almost 2,000 people sitting at home. They have nothing to eat,” Don later added.

Kyiv city authorities did not publish any orders or further statements on whether restaurants can reopen in the city.

The management at Don’s Dom №10 restaurant was unsettled at first after Klitschko’s statement and thought about closing the restaurant just hours after reopening. But after consulting the owner and their lawyers, they decided to resume work.

“This is really important for us,” Olena Zhadko, marketing director of Dom №10 restaurant told the Kyiv Post. “We had been preparing for this until late last night, expecting to reopen.”

Like other restaurants, Dom №10 prepared to meet the government’s sanitary requirements. There should be at least 1.5 meters between tables, special distancing markings and sanitizer dispensers throughout the premises. The restaurants should use only tableware cleaned in dishwashers or paper utensils, and employees should be screened for COVID-19 symptoms before the shift.

Dom №10 had been closed for over two months since the government intensified the COVID-19 quarantine restrictions on March 17. Restaurants that have outdoor patios have been allowed to open them since May 11-12.

One such restaurant is Beef Meat & Wine. While its terrace has been functioning since May 12, the restaurant anticipated fully opening on June 5. But unlike Dom №10, it will close its indoor facilities.

“We’ll have to work from the terrace – what else can we do?” Oleksandr Kulivskyi, the restaurant’s manager, told the Kyiv Post. “I don’t know what’s with the authorities. They may come with inspections and fines. We also don’t want to be responsible for people getting sick.”

Kulivskyi says he doesn’t understand the “tangled” bureaucracy behind the government’s decisions.

“Why does the national government make the decision to allow indoor restaurants and the Kyiv authorities do not?” he says.

The national government announced on June 3 that it would allow restaurants to reopen starting June 5 under its “adaptive quarantine” plan for easing restrictions. Under adaptive quarantine, only the regions that meet the requirements in three criteria will be able to enter the next stage: the number of new cases per 100,000 people, occupancy of beds in hospitals treating patients with COVID-19 and the number of tests conducted over the past seven days

Depending on whether the region meets the requirements, a regional commission on emergency situations allows or prohibits launching the next stage. But such commissions have been meeting the same day that the next stage should start. This leads to situations when regional authorities and businesses find out whether they can ease restrictions with major delays.

The government initially planned to allow indoor restaurants to reopen on June 10. It changed the date to June 5 after the restaurant industry campaigned and rallied, demanding that their businesses be allowed to reopen.