A leading restaurateur has been left in the lurch as new COVID-19 rules for establishments come into force today – rules he needs to implement, despite facing backlash from some segments of his clientele.

“Don’t discriminate – these rules will not stop the virus from being transmitted, remove these regulations before 50% of Malta’s restaurants have to close,” Bouorn Bartolo, owner of Manouche Craft Bakery and Bistro, told Lovin Malta on Monday evening after new rules on entry into establishments came into force.

After investing thousands in new technology in each of the company’s stores around Malta this week, today saw a sharp drop in sales. However, closing the shop – as some other restaurants have chosen to do – is not an option for Bartolo, with 60 full-time employees working in Manouche.

Worse is the fact that customers who can no longer enter the Manouche are now attacking the restaurant for violating the law.

“Restaurant workers are afraid – if you follow the rules, you will react; and if you don’t follow the rules, you get fired – there are no winners, whatever it is, you lose, ”he lamented.

Although hundreds of protesters took to Valletta over the weekend, only a few protested against the tyranny that took place in the city this morning. However, customers were bombarded with the business, and were told they had an option to send a message to the government – by closing the shop.

“We just can’t afford it though,” he said. “We’ve just gone from 35 to 60 employees, we’ve just opened two new stores … and now it’s all happening.”

Bartolo made it clear that he did not agree with the regulations, although he was implementing them.

“We are not for these regulations: mad, mad … they have been left speechless, and this is discrimination against the people there. You can’t impose this on anyone … and to stop them from going to gyms, bars, restaurants as a result …. This is not North Korea, even though it is starting to feel that way. “

While making it clear that he was not saying that the COVID-19 vaccine was not useful, he wondered if the government’s strong approach to implementing the rules was the best way forward.

“The protests are well-deserved, we do not agree with these rules,” he said. “We are paying, even though we are following the rules.”

Do you agree with the new rules that came into force in Malta today?