Only a few owners of restaurants, cafes, bars and clubs plan to use the model of Covid-free and turn their facilities into venues for vaccinated customers only. The majority of restaurants and coffee bars owners say that they will open the indoor spaces of their facilities for “mixed” customers, that is for vaccinated and unvaccinated ones.
Only 6% of owners say that they will have “Covid-free.”
The Greek government ruled last week that restaurants, bars, cafes etc can open their indoor spaces either for “vaccinated” or “mixed customers” and the rule in going into force on July 15, 2021. Covid-free venues will be allowed to increase occupancy up to 85%, while the mixed ones up to 50% only.
Entrance to Covid-free will be with vaccination certificate only, while in “mixed” areas customers will have to show a vaccination certificate or a negative molecular PCR test or a Rapid test.
“Most spaces will be mixed. The majority of owners will go to the mixed option. No one wants to lose a customer. I believe that few stores will be Covid-free,” said the president of GSEVEE, George Kavvathas.
On the same wavelength is also the president of restaurants in Attica, Ioannis Deveronis.
“We are waiting to see what happens. We react because they threw the ball at us even thought it’s not our fault. From 15th of July we will have to play police and doctors at the entrance of our stores. We should ask for personal data of citizens” Deveronis said.
He added that “most entrepreneurs will make their stores mixed, I have no idea about exclusively Covid-free shops. The state must persuade people to be vaccinated. We are obliged to allow all customers in. It is not possible to separate groups. There is a disturbance.”
85% of the stores in Thessaloniki will reportedly open the interior of their stores for vaccinated and non-vaccinated.
According to the General Secretary of the Thessaloniki Restaurant Association, Michalis Epitropidis, they decided to move towards this option because there is still a large number of unvaccinated citizens.
“According to a survey we did, 85% of the stores will be mixed. 6% will be Covid-free and 9% of stores owners haven’t decided yet,” Epitropidis said.
Pointing out at the fact that 50% of the population in Greece is not vaccinated yet, Epitropidis stressed “the majority of us does not want to send customers away.”
According to the report on libre.gr, next to Athens and Thessaloniki, also in the rest of the country almost no venues will operate as Covid-free only, except maybe on some islands.
