Restaurants Protest in Only EU State Restricting Indoor Dining

(Bloomberg) --

Restaurant staff in Romania, the only European Union nation that still restricts indoor dining, are protesting against a five-month lockdown they say is crushing the industry.

Thousands of waiters, cooks and owners plan to stop work for an hour on Wednesday and stand in front of their premises to show their discontent. With sales of 5 billion euros ($6 billion), the hospitality sector accounts for about 5% of the economy and employees 400,000 people. The government has only allowed outdoor dining, with a reduced number of tables from June.

“Our industry has been the hardest-hit,” said Daniel Mischie, head of the HORA association of restaurants and hotel owners. “This prompted about 40% of companies to suspend activity.”

While the government is providing support to keep companies afloat, it won’t allow indoor openings before a drop in new Covid-19 cases from more than 1,000 a day at present. At 3,106, Romania’s death toll is eastern Europe’s highest.

Restaurant owners say the authorities wrongly blame the industry and tourism for the recent spike.

“All the other EU countries have allowed restaurants to open indoors and outdoors with strict rules and under the state’s direct supervision, thus managing to keep the number of new infections at a much smaller level,” Mischie said.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.