Restaurants open to lukewarm response

NT NETWORK Panaji

After being under total lockdown for over two months, restaurants in the state opened on Monday, but the reopening was subdued due to scarce customers and shortage of staff.

According to Goa Hotels and Restaurants Association (GHRA) president Gaurish Dhond, only 25 per cent of the restaurants in the state opened for business on Monday due to shortage of workers, as the industry’s labour force is highly dependent on migrant workers.

Nonetheless, several eateries, small joints and larger restaurants were seen opening their premises during the day, while restaurants located in hotels refrained from restarting business.

Shekhar Divadkar, business head of hospitality division, Alcon Anil Counto Enterprises, the group which owns O’Coqueiro in Porvorim, said the popular restaurant was open for walk-in customers although nobody actually stepped into the premises for dining.

“Restarting is important and restaurants will have to make special efforts to convince customers that they are working properly by using sanitisers, gloves, masks and taking care at the back-end operations,” said Divadkar. He said O’Coqueiro was operating its takeaway section during the lockdown and expects few dine-in customers in the coming days.

Meanwhile, city-based small restaurants made arrangements to maintain social distancing and keep sanitiser bottles at the entrance. Some restaurants had set up tables outside the premises to cater to customers with small orders.

Restaurant owners said the spike in COVID-19 cases in the recent weeks is a worrying factor and is likely to keep away residents from eating out. “We expect sparse customers for at least the next three weeks, as people are frightened of the infection,” said operators of restaurants.

Restaurants have been asked to operate at 50 per cent capacity, not to serve liquor and close by 8 pm to comply with the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The standard operating procedure (SOP) issued by the government urges the restaurants to encourage takeaways instead of dine-in, staggering of patrons if possible, adequate manpower by the restaurant management to ensure social distancing norms, among others.

Further, managements must see that all employees who are at higher risk of infection like older and pregnant employees and those with underlying medical conditions take extra precautions and are not exposed to any frontline work requiring direct contact with the public.

The Federation of Hotels and Restaurants Association of India (FHAI) has also issued infection preventive guidelines for its members. These include physical distancing of at least six feet, thermal screening of guests and visitors before entering the premises, appropriate personal protection gear for staff as well as guests, proper disposal of face covers, masks left by guests etc.

Restaurants, malls and religious places have been permitted to open and restart operations from June 8, the first phase of Unlock 1.