Borscht and QR-code: restaurants in Moscow will operate according to the "rules of war" with covid

Yelena Ivanova, Natalia Seibil

When a few days ago the capital's mayor discussed with restaurateurs what to do with the spread of covid, for Tatiana, like many other owners of cafes and restaurants, the proposal to introduce segregation sounded like a distant thunder during an approaching thunderstorm - it was hard to believe that bad weather would come so quickly.

"I learned the news from the media. I'm shocked! We have not received any instructions or instructions yet. I don’t know how we will survive”, - she told Novy Izvestia.

They began to sort out vaccinations for employees somehow, although how can you explain to a waitress that vaccination is compulsory if her father died of thrombosis after vaccination two months ago? The team, at the very least, has begun to vaccinate, no one wants to be left without work. Foreign workers will also be vaccinated, although they are entitled to Sputnik Light as citizens of the "second class". From an economic point of view, they again decided to save money on guest workers - they themselves do not have enough. From the point of view of medicine, this is nonsense, because it is already known about the delta-variant that one vaccination, as in the case of Sputnik-Light, is not enough, only two doses reliably protect against the disease and, as a result, from its transmission to other people.

Nothing is clear about checking the guests of the restaurants.

Tatyana throws up her hands:

"And what about the guests? They must have some kind of QR code. Control is ours. I understand that more security will be needed to extinguish the guests' dissatisfaction. I don’t understand yet how it can be organized technically, I don’t understand how it will be controlled. Obviously, we will be punished, not our visitors. While in complete confusion".

The restaurateurs we interviewed did not receive any instructions or instructions.

The head of the Department of Trade and Services of the city of Moscow, Alexey Nemeryuk, recalls that from this Thursday in Moscow, at the suggestion of the restaurant owners themselves, an experiment begins in some restaurants:

"Currently, about 180 applications have been submitted, someone has already started working, someone is introducing a system that allows people with immunity to enter a restaurant. At the same time, the restrictions that apply to all restaurants in Moscow do not apply to these restaurants, namely, the ability to move around without masks and gloves, the ability to work at night. For the rest, this possibility is excluded. It is also possible not to measure the temperature and not to observe the arrangement of furniture".

The head of the department confirmed that a decree was issued today that applies these rules to all restaurants in the city. As always, there are clarifications: they will be allowed in with vaccinations and those who have recovered in the last 6 months. The tests will be valid for those who want to hold a celebration. So, whoever was ill 7 months ago, or who came to a restaurant with a test, but not for a celebration, but, for example, on a date, will not be allowed? Or will they not give you a QR-code?

With tests, too, everything is not easy. As you know, the capital test costs 2,400 rubles. By order of the mayor's office, only Moscow restaurants will be accepted. Residents of the Moscow region will be allowed to eat if they have done a test in Moscow laboratories attached to the UMIAS. For foreigners vaccinated with non-Russian vaccines, you need to make a test, having previously registered on state portals and having received a QR code, however, according to a simplified system. The official did not say what to do for Krasnoyarsk or Petrograd residents.

In Europe, all those who have been ill, vaccinated and who have a negative test on their hands have equal rights. In Germany, where restaurants and non-food stores opened a month ago, until recently, free rapid tests were required, valid for 24 hours. Now they are needed only for indoor use.

Restaurants are required to keep track of visitors even now that infestation is low. For example, yesterday 945 people were infected with covid in a population of 82 million. The philosophy of control is the opposite of the Moscow one. Citizens have an application with personal data to register in public places. Restaurant visitors read the QR-codes of the establishments and check-in and check-out themselves.

Unlike Moscow, express tests are free, and tents with little white men stand across the street.

Igor Bukharov, President of the Federation of Restaurateurs and Hoteliers of Russia, believes that the mayor's office does not require anything supernatural:

"Those people who check the presence of a mask and measure the temperature will also check the QR code, which can be obtained from Mos.ru or State Services. It will be in the smartphone. You compare the last name after verification with the last name on the ID card. The man passes by. The code cannot be read - the person cannot pass. No additional equipment, no additional costs are required".

The City Hall believes in the power of numbers and insists that paper certificates will not be accepted. Ordinary restaurateurs do not share Igor Bukharov's optimism that no difficulties are foreseen in checking customers. According to the city authorities, the establishments themselves will deal with the dissatisfied visitors. Either it will be necessary to hire additional security guards, or, as in the case of food courts, to organize an “additional control system that prevents the passage of visitors without a QR code".

Igor Bukharov calls what is happening a war:

"We understand that there is another reality. The old life will be gone. We must be aware of this. How the war began 80 years ago. And now we have a war. Of course, any restrictions affect people, visitors, employees. This must be understood. The question is how will it develop; now - an experiment. We were given a week to overclock. We'll see".

The City Hall will keep a register of all restaurants and other food service outlets operating in compliance with the restrictions. Residents and guests are promised to create a technical support service and help with obtaining QR codes if there are problems. For those who refuse to vaccinate or fail to cope with obstacles, there is always takeaway or delivery.

For restaurants, new demands mean new challenges and costs. If the covid numbers continue to rise, there is only one alternative - a close. Neither the authorities nor the owners of the establishments want this.

It goes without saying that a rise in prices due to new costs is inevitable.