Indoor restaurants to reopen on June 10, but owners don’t want to wait

Ukraine’s restaurant industry is resolute on reopening as soon as possible, ahead of a three-day weekend on June 6-8, when the Orthodox Pentecost public holiday is observed.

But the government’s current plan is to allow restaurants to resume indoor service no earlier than June 10, the start of the fourth stage of easing the nationwide COVID-19 quarantine restrictions.

So the industry is actively campaigning to make this happen earlier. Members of the Ukrainian Restaurant Association have already met with officials from the ministries of health and economy. The association formed at the start of the quarantine and already unites around 1,200 businesses, according to its president Serhiy Trahachev.

The association says that the Deputy Health Minister Viktor Lyashko and Deputy Economy Minister Dmytro Romanovych have supported their demands.

On June 2, the industry employees plan to persuade the rest of the government with a rally outside its building. In compliance with the current restrictions, they will wear face masks and bang pots and pans in groups of no more than eight ahead of the government vote on the issue on June 3.

Garik Korogodski, co-owner of the Dream Town mall that houses several restaurants, says that the Kyiv City Administration also supports reopening indoor restaurants early, but is waiting for the national government’s decision.

“Million of Ukrainians work in the industry. That’s how many people are sitting with no money and waiting for Wednesday,” Korogodski said on Facebook.

Ukraine allowed cafes and restaurants to reopen their summer terraces since May 11-12, the first stage of easing the quarantine. Such outdoor restaurants should follow certain sanitary requirements and allow no more than four people sitting at one table.

According to the government’s “adaptive quarantine” plan indoor restaurants will be allowed to reopen starting June 10, the fourth stage of easing the quarantine. 

On the second stage on May 22 and 26, the government allowed public transport and metros to reopen, as well as kindergartens after parents protested. The third stage starts today, June 1, with gyms and swimming pools restarting work.

Many restaurant owners have said that they are able to make their indoor facilities much safer than metro, gyms, and public transport.

“Restaurants can definitely work more safely than the metro, organize disinfection and everything necessary for the safety of their guests,” co-owner of Bali Bowl Cafe said on Facebook.

“Restaurants, which are accustomed to working according to strict HACCP (food safety) standards, can certainly organize service in a way that is safe and comfortable to the maximum for the guests,” Dmytro Borysov, owner of Ostannya Barykada, Bilyi Nalyv and other restaurants, said on Facebook. 

The number of officially confirmed COVID-19 cases in Ukraine has reached 24,012 as of 9 a.m. on June 1, according to Ukraine’s health ministry. In total, 718 people have died from the disease in Ukraine and 9,690 patients have recovered.

In the 24 hours prior to the health ministry’s latest report, Ukraine identified 340 new COVID-19 cases, 10 people have died, 152 have recovered, and 97 people were hospitalized.

Globally, the novel coronavirus has infected over 6.29 million people as of the afternoon of June 1. In total, 374,454 people have died and 2.86 million patients have recovered from COVID-19.