BENGALURU: Ironic as it may sound, with the city in the grip of the second wave of Covid-19, owners of fine dine restaurants, pubs and bars want the State government to implement a temporary lockdown. Reason being that while businesses are down by 95 per cent since the implementation of night curfew in the city from the April 10, pubs and bars cannot shut business without prior permission of the Excise department, said Amit Roy of Watson’s, a popular chain of pubs in Bengaluru.
“The footfall in many pubs and bars had started declining since the second week of March, but most of them are practically empty now. People are scared about their health and the crumbling health infrastructure. It is becoming difficult to run a business under these circumstances. It is better that the government announces a temporary lockdown. It will help break the chain of rising cases,” he added.
Rajesh Rajaram of 13th Floor and Ebony, a lounge bar and restaurant, said that he closed Ebony 10 days ago and is running 13th Floor on a combined menu. “People don’t want to step out now because of the fear that if they get infected, they may not find beds in hospitals.”