“A decision about reopening restaurants will be taken once these (SOPs) are finalised,” Thackeray was quoted as saying in a statement.
On Monday, amid several measures in place to control the spread of Cobid-19, the Maharashtra government announced that the decision to re-open restaurants, bars, and eatery outlets in the state will be taken soon. This comes into the backdrop of centre’s proposed upcoming fresh set of guidelines under Unlock 5 plan – to open the economy gradually amid novel coronavirus pandemic – for the month of October.
In a meeting with representatives of restaurant business associations, Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray said, “State govt has prepared guidelines to restart restaurant operations and submitted to concerned authorities. Once finalised, a decision to reopen restaurants will be taken.”
Thackeray, under these guidelines, is considering re-opening of restaurants, bars and eatery outlets in the state after over six months of inactivity.
“A decision about reopening restaurants will be taken once these (SOPs) are finalised,” Thackeray was quoted as saying in a statement.
“The state government has framed SOPs for reopening restaurants and those have been sent to the people concerned,” the statement further read.
In the midst of Covid-19 threat, the Maharashtra Chief Minister said his government was taking steps cautiously and SOPs have been framed accordingly.
He also added that the SOPs are not for putting restaurateurs in trouble.
The Shiv Sena supremo emphasised wearing masks, cleaning hands and maintaining physical distance while living with Covid-19 and added these precautions need to be taken when restaurants are reopened. He also asked officials to examine requests to roll back the excise fee hike.
The dine-in services, reportedly, will be allowed with 50% of the actual capacity from the first week of October in Maharashtra. The hotel owners and the state government are jointly working over certain details of SOP.
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