Gastrosuisse President Casimir Platzer. image: chmedia / Martin Toengi
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Restaurant lockdown: Berset department invites gastro president for talks
The Federal Council has so far not presented a timetable for the reopening of restaurants and bars. The industry association was annoyed.
“Basically, it’s just a cheek.” After the press conference of the Federal Council on Thursday, Casimir Platzer, President of the Association of the Hotel and Gastronomy Industry, made no effort to put his anger at the state government in nice words. The latter had announced that it would gradually relax the measures to protect against the new corona virus, but gave no indication of the point in time from which Swiss catering establishments will likely be allowed to open their doors again. «This zero information is absolutely insufficient. I would give the Federal Council a very bad mark. Task not completed, »said Platzer in an interview with this newspaper.
Research by CH Media now shows that the day after the press conference, the Secretary General of Health Minister Alain Berset contacted Platzer by phone. During the conversation, the gastro president repeated his criticism of the state government’s approach: It was incomprehensible that the state government had given the industry no signal as to how it could proceed.
Berset is under pressure due to the pickling lockdown. Image: KEYSTONE
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The interior department has now invited Casimir Platzer to a meeting in Bern. A spokesman Alain Bersets confirmed the invitation on request, but emphasized that one was in conversation with various actors.
Gastrosuisse submitted to the interior and the economic department several days before the Federal Council meeting on Thursday a draft for a protection concept with which the industry wants to comply with the requirements of the Federal Office of Health, but received no response from federal miners.
The concept of the catering industry provides for a limited number of guests per square meter, a minimum distance between the tables and a protective mask requirement “behind the scenes”.
Restaurants reopening in the next few weeks?
Minister of Economics Guy Parmelin sent positive signals to the hospitality industry during the weekend in an interview with the “SonntagsZeitung. The SVP Federal Council emphasized that the state government is constantly evaluating the situation. “I do not rule out that the restaurants can also open in the next few weeks.” It depends on how the pandemic develops. The Federal Council could carry out a new situation assessment at its meetings every week.
The previous day, Federal President Simonetta Sommaruga expressed herself in the «NZZ». She called on the innkeepers to consider how distance and hygiene rules could be ensured in restaurants and garden stains. “The Federal Council is open, but the concepts of the industry have to be convincing.” Differentiated solutions are also conceivable; the situation in a restaurant is already different today than in a bar.
Common sense applies
Gastrosuisse President Platzer says that it is certainly the case that the distance rules are easier to adhere to in a restaurant with a terrace than in a club or a bar.
Like all other branches of the economy, the catering industry will not be completely free to implement distance and hygiene regulations. The federal government wants to publish rough protection concepts for various activities this week, for example rules for personal services. The task of the industry associations will be to refine the rough concepts and put them into practice. Cantonal labor inspectorates check compliance.
However, there will be no actual approval of industry concepts. Boris Zürcher, head of the Directorate for Labor at the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs in Bern, said a few days ago: “It’s about common sense.” (aargauerzeitung.ch)
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