A few days ago, restaurants across Delhi had made sanitisers and washing hands at regular intervals compulsory due to growing concerns over COVID-19. Now, with the rise in coronavirus cases (153 cases, including the three casualties), the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI), representing 500,000-plus restaurants in India, has issued an advisory to its restaurant members to shut down dine-in operations till March 31, or till infections start abating.
“The World Health Organisation has announced COVID-19 to be a pandemic and also it’s an easily spreadable virus. So, for the safety of our staff members and our guests, closures have to happen,” says Inderjeet Singh Banga, NRAI Gurugram Chapter Head and Director, Something Different Restaurants Pvt Ltd. He adds, “The government’s directive also clearly states that dance floors can’t be operated and no gatherings of more than 50 allowed. In large restaurants, staff strength is more than 50 alone hence, we need to close down till the situation is under control.”
Restaurateur Priyank Sukhija, MD and CEO, First Fiddle F&B Pvt Ltd closed his restaurants from the midnight of Tuesday. “We can’t deny the fact that restaurants are places where social distancing can’t be practised. These are times when we need to think about our staff and patrons more than our business. Hence, we at First Fiddle are shutting down all our restaurants across the country till March 31,” said Sukhija, urging the government to take similar steps to curb the growing health crisis.
“This is the time to act before a lot people react to the virus,” says Umang Tewari, owner of Big Fish ventures that owns Local, The Junkyard Cafe, Sexy Soda and Liv Bar. “As a responsible citizen, the safety of our staff, guests and the nation are of utmost importance to me. And at present, containing will help us sustain forever. Hence, we have decided to self-quarantine our restaurants and ourselves to do our bit in helping stop the virus from spreading.”
Dinesh Arora, Founder Eastman Color Restaurants is happy about this decision taken by his fraternity. “Hospitality is an industry which usually sacrifices almost everything to serve everyone and now, in the current situation, safety is our utmost concern. Looking at the patterns from the past, we have decided to fight out the virus with a temporary shutdown of operations across our outlets,” says Arora, adding everyone needs to remain calm and avoid socialising for their safety. Adding to it, Akshay Anand of Ophelia and Toy Room, who is also closing all his outlets says, “The health department of the government understands the real situation, and immediate measures to be taken, more than any of us.”
Amit Bagga, Co-founder Daryaganj, is getting everyone at his restaurant to go home. “Even our corporate team will be working from home and devising the plans for the months ahead. We are most concerned about the well being of our staff who travel in public transport and are vulnerable to getting this virus. Also, our customers who come to our restaurants can’t be put at risk,” says Bagga.