Hospitality union: Bars, restaurants pay the unvaccinated price Yle news
The hotel’s restaurant industry has sharply criticized the tightening and prolongation of restrictions on the operation of bars and restaurants in some parts of the country.
A week ago, the government has lifted the restrictions the opening hours of alcohol sales and the number of customers in bars and restaurants classified as accelerating the coronavirus pandemic. Päijät-Häme was still in the acceleration phase last week, but now it has been reclassified as a community transfer phase.
From Friday 8 October, restaurants in the area will have to stop selling alcohol and close their doors earlier and limit the number of customers on their premises. Helsinki, Espoo and Vantaa have also been classified as a community transfer phase according to the changes announced on Thursday.
The industry’s stakeholder, the Finnish Hospitality Association MaRa, argues that the authorities treat restaurant companies unequally compared to many other sectors of the economy. By Timo Lappi, CEO of MaRan, in the spirit of the government’s hybrid strategy, there have been no tightening of bar and restaurant restrictions as other sections of society open up.
According to the association, the new restrictions in Päijät-Häme and their continuation in the Helsinki metropolitan area cannot be justified by data on the spread of the coronavirus.
“[Thursday] At its press conference, THL announced that only 1.8 percent of Helsinki’s infections definitely come from restaurants. If inflammation is suspected, this figure is only 5.4 percent. In our opinion, such low infection rates do not in any way justify the spread of phase restrictions in the municipalities of the Helsinki Metropolitan Area at the moment, “says Lapland.
Complaint to the Minister of Justice
The public health organization in the Päijät-Häme region said last Monday that the need for hospital care in the region is approaching the peak of the epidemic period again and that the coronavirus situation has deteriorated significantly. The health authorities there believe that a large number of infections are associated with restaurants.
As across the country, vaccination utilization has slowed in the region. According to the government, restaurant opening hours and the number of customers allowed will be removed when the vaccine is sufficient. From the perspective of the hospitality industry, business owners are now indirectly responsible for the carrying capacity of hospitals and the actions of unvaccinated individuals.
“The vaccination system is slow and some people do not take the vaccine, although there is no medical reason not to take it. It is completely unreasonable for restaurant owners, employees and their families to pay this price,” says Timo Lapland.
The Hospitality Association complains to the Minister of Justice about the restrictions in Päijät-Häme and the Helsinki region. The association has several similar complaints already archived on behalf of members elsewhere in the country.