Restaurants closed at 6pm: 5 things you could do before you got to this

2023 Author: Cody Thornton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-11-26 19:13

He does not like the word "curfew", but in fact the government of Giuseppe Conte has just decreed one, albeit in a soft version: restaurants closed at 6pm in fact, it means locking people indoors, albeit not with coercive methods.

And it also means decreeing the probable end of a sector which, it is worth mentioning again, represents an important slice of the Italian GDP (with a turnover of 86 billion euros in 2019), and a driving force for other sectors, such as that tourism, given that we are talking about a distinctive element of the excellence of this country. In short, let's understand: catering is not just carousing with friends and taking a break from the daily routine, as Conte would imply when he speaks of "small sacrifices" that each of us must make.

We have no solutions and, fortunately, it is not our job to find them. We can only imagine how difficult it is, in such an incredibly delicate historical moment, to put the economic stability and the stability of a country's health system on the scales, trying to do as little damage as possible. And what we see around us leads us to believe that perhaps a series of drastic and unpopular decisions are necessary: all of Europe, even a large part of the world, is moving in this direction, between localized lockdowns, curfews and restrictions on commercial activities..

So maybe they are right, perhaps the early closure of bars and restaurants was somehow inevitable, albeit perhaps postponed. But, before going that far, before bringing to its knees a sector - the food and wine sector - which has always been the flagship of Italy, we would have liked to see a series of other things that, regardless of municipal, regional and national responsibility, perhaps they would have helped us to welcome the new measures, I do not say with more serenity, but at least with greater resignation.

More accuracy and transparency on data

The Government evidently believes that it is after 6 pm that the situations with the highest risk of contagion take place. It can be elementary to imagine it, if you think of a certain nightlife, a little less if you think of a restaurant where you keep the distance. If the prime minister has decided to treat the two situations with the same method, then he should explain to us why: are there data showing that it is at dinner time that infections are concentrated? Is there data and evidence on outbreaks in restaurants (or gyms, or theaters)? It is not superfluous to know, because these harsh measures taken from above and respected on trust, evidently begin to tire people.

More foresight in decisions

It goes without saying that an emergency situation, as incredibly extraordinary by its nature as this one, makes long-term planning very difficult. However, the "upper floors" are expected to do better than this, allowing people as much as possible to prepare themselves, to protect themselves, to work to save what can be saved. The restaurateurs have been asked to make even substantial investments to sanitize and secure their premises. It was allowed to invest in outdoor areas, perhaps covered (for those few who wanted to prepare for winter). Now they are told that it is not known what will happen at Christmas, nor in the period between now and then. Unfortunately, this is how trade is killed, even more than with closures.

Greater controls on gatherings

We have seen them all, the squares full of people at aperitif time and until late at night. We all came across a bit of restaurants that did not ask for general information, did not measure the temperature, and had not spaced the tables sufficiently. As Bruno Vespa rightly said, closing everyone without distinction, without taking into account the fact that there are those who have respected the safety rules and those who have given a damn in the name of gain "here and now", means first of all admitting that they have not been able to keep watch.

More collaboration between restaurateurs

And here, ladies and gentlemen restaurateurs, we come to that mea culpa that perhaps you should do and that - if we tell you - makes you so angry. Because, it is useless to deny it, in recent months, in the face of so many who have made sacrifices and respected the rules, there are also those who did not care, those who thought they were smarter than the others, those who transformed restaurants into dance halls, who closed at midnight to open at quarter past midnight. There. In the end, closing at 6pm is also a bit of their fault, you will agree.

More attention to difficult situations (and to real gatherings)

There is only one thing to ask: what have the institutions done (at all levels) to prevent the economic disaster? Have they upgraded the public transport service to avoid overcrowding on the vehicles? Have they worked on the need for more health personnel, more health equipment, more teachers to ensure a more efficient and safer school service for all? Because if it is certain that we are trying to stop the river with our bare hands, it is equally true that the contagion had to be tried to contain before, not after. And certainly not only in restaurants, theaters and gyms.

These are five things to which, if we had an answer, perhaps we could see everything from a different perspective. Get a reason, to put it mildly.

Today, in this situation, worry gives way to anger, disbelief, and even doubts about the effectiveness of the measures taken. To name one: if I reduce the hours of a service, it is logical to think that I will have more turnout in a shorter period of time. So should we all rush to lunch or a snack, not wanting to give up restaurants but not being able to have dinner? Also because, since world and world, dear Giuseppe Conte, prohibitions lead to nothing but disobedience (and illegality).