Now, like in all other sectors of the economy, rising prices for energy and food have hit restaurateurs hard. So as long as the mask requirement is the only requirement (it is only an option for the German states for the time being), the complaints are limited. Since the rules are not supposed to take effect until October, the summer can still be mask-free. There is also no longer a risk of a complete shutdown. "First of all, we expressly welcome the fact that future lockdowns due to the pandemic are to be rejected and that the principle of proportionality is being emphasized. This is an important signal for the planning security of our restaurateurs and hoteliers, but also for our employees. The businesses in the hospitality industry will be able to remain open next fall and winter," Patrick Rothkopf, President of the NRW regional association of the German Hotel and Restaurant Association (Dehoga), told our editorial team.

Monitoring efforts likely to be more extensive

But it is expected that monitoring efforts in the fall will be greater than before, because the restaurant and pub operators will have to ask those not wearing masks for their vaccination or recovered status or require them to show a negative test. Only those vaccinated or recovered no longer than three months ago may enter without a mask. This means that many more people who do not want to wear a mask will have to get tested. For now, it remains to be seen who will pay for this.

In any case, the new regulation will probably mean more monitoring work for restaurateurs and their employees. And their concern will grow when the number of infections increase enough to impact the health system. Already two weeks ago, Ingrid Hartges, chief executive with the Dehoga Federal association, said that all measures such as mandatory masks can be introduced only if they are suitable, necessary and proportionate as well as critical for fighting the pandemic. Decisive criteria: the danger posed by the virus variant and the hospitalization rate.

Access requirements make business more difficult

A warning was already sounding even before the cabinet decided on the revision of the Infection Protection Act and the states launched their respective regulations. The restaurateurs know that every single access requirement or restriction will make business more difficult for them again. Further measures, which would affect all the states of Germany, would lead again to losses of sales and disproportionate additional expenditures, said Dehoga NRW president Rothkopf on Thursday. For example, if the North Rhine-Westphalia state legislature were to determine it was a dangerous situation at some point based on the data, a minimum distance of 1.50 meters could again be imposed in public spaces. Tables in the pubs in NRW would have to be moved further apart again, which means there would probably be less space, room for fewer guests, and the revenue of the restaurateurs would fall again.

This is maybe a worst case scenario, but such a situation cannot be ruled out. That's why Rothkopf is already wondering, among other things, at what point the "ability of the healthcare system to function or other critical infrastructure to function is no longer guaranteed." Who will have which vaccination or test available in the future to be exempted from the mask requirement, and what kind of financial support is planned to compensate for the loss of revenue that would then be threatened? These are open questions, he says. The latter question could now become "of existential importance in light of further crises such as the sharp rise in energy prices," said Rothkopf.

Orig. text: Georg Winters

Translation: ck