Restricted opening times “make no sense”

The government clearly does not understand how the restaurant business works.

So says Henny á Líknargøtu, the head of the Tourism Industry Association, referring to the government’s continued insistence on closing bars and restaurants at 10pm.

The association welcomes the new one-metre social distancing guidelines, but it fails to see the rationale behind the restricted opening times for restaurants, which Líknargøtu says are a great obstacle for an industry already brought down to its knees by the corona lockdown.

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“With no tourists currently in the country, we only have local customers,” she says. “With this limited customer base, the short opening times only allow for one sitting per day, which gives us very little financial incentive to keep our restaurants open.”

The association has not been given any justification for the restricted opening times, and Líknargøtu believes the government ought to take a closer look at how the restaurant business works.

“The infection risk is no greater between 10pm to 11pm than between 8pm and 9pm, so I don’t see any reason for this restriction, and I hope the authorities change this as soon as possible.”

Translated by prosa.fo