Covid-19: Bulgaria puts half-capacity limit on restaurants, bars and discos
From midnight on October 22, a new rule to limit the spread of Covid-19 in Bulgaria will come into effect, that restaurants, bars and discos may only have half their capacity filled.
The new rule is that there may be one customer per two square metres, a change from the rule that allowed one customer per square metre.
The changes were agreed on at a meeting between Health Minister Kostadin Angelov and representatives of Bulgaria’s restaurant and bar industry, held against the background of constant increases of cases of Covid-19 in the country in recent weeks.
A further meeting will be held on October 27, to discuss possible further measures in nightclubs, Bulgarian National Television said.
Angelov said that checks on restaurants would be stepped up. “Where measures are not observed, sanctions will be imposed. There will be no compromises, everyone’s life is at stake,” he said.
“We do not want to close down the country. We want the measures we are introducing to be respected by all,” Angelov said.
Richard Alibegov, head of the Association of Restaurateurs, said that for the industry, the most important thing was to preserve people’s health and lives.
A situation like that in March, when under Bulgaria’s State of Emergency restaurants and bars were ordered closed, should not be allowed either, he said. “The industry will not withstand another such measure,” Alibegov said.
(Photo: pxfuel.com)
The Sofia Globe’s coverage of the Covid-19 situation in Bulgaria is supported by the Embassy of Switzerland.
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