Few guests in the halls, many on the verandas: how Moscow catering works after the adoption of new measures against coronavirus

On June 28, new requirements for catering establishments came into force in Moscow due to the spread of COVID-19.

Only guests who have been vaccinated, who have had a coronavirus infection in the last six months, or who have shown a negative result in a PCR test older than three days, can stay in the halls of cafes, restaurants and bars.

Until July 12, guests who do not fall into these categories are allowed to stay on the summer verandas.

They can also use the restrooms located inside the cafe.

Establishments that comply with these requirements receive COVID-free status, can work day and night, place tables closer than 1.5 meters from each other, and visitors in such establishments do not need to wear masks and gloves while moving around the hall.

According to the head of the Moscow department of trade and services, Alexei Nemeryuk, out of more than 15.6 thousand catering establishments in Moscow, more than 7 thousand have announced their work in this format.

RT found out what it looks like in practice.

And crashing again

For the restaurant business, Monday is already the most disastrous day, and on June 28, Moscow was hit by a "super shower", which brought about 70% of the monthly rainfall.

Not surprisingly, many establishments decided to open later.

For example, Bazar Mangal, judging by the inscription on the door, works from noon, but employees told RT that they would open only at 16:00.

However, probably, after weighing the pros and cons, we are invited to come in.

The establishment is completely new, it has been operating since March, and it was not easy to find a free table there.

However, three floors are now completely empty.

Employees use the pause to change the design of one of the halls.

The first problem with QR codes, to the confusion of both staff and visitors, is clarified immediately.

It turns out that vaccination certificates obtained on the state services website and on the mos.ru website, when scanned, give different information: the first contains the last digits of the passport, while the second does not, but a certain “expiration date” appears (presumably, a certificate).

The first letters of the last name, first name, patronymic, as well as the date of birth are displayed in both variants.

For the employee of the restaurant, who checked the data with the passports, this, apparently, came as a surprise: “How do I know that you are you, if only the first letters are listed here?

We have already denied entry to two girls because their links (pop-up when scanning the code. -

RT

) are invalid. "

As it turned out later, even the code that was in effect in a number of establishments, received through the mos.ru portal, may fail: several attempts to identify it in one of the bars did not yield any results.

But the QR code from the website of state services for the RT correspondent worked flawlessly, from which it was necessary to conclude that it is better to have a backup version with you.

According to the operational headquarters of Moscow, over 2.5 million QR codes were generated in three days.

Mos.ru technical support has been contacted 19 thousand times due to difficulties in obtaining the code, and 63% of requests were satisfied.

As noted in the headquarters, the reasons for the refusals were distributed as follows: in 23% of cases we are talking about vaccination in other regions, that is, a reconciliation with the federal register is required, 8% of the authors of requests did not actually get vaccinated, and 5% were vaccinated with only one component and therefore cannot pretend to be a QR code.

Verandas as salvation

The vast majority of Moscow establishments now make money only on summer verandas, says RT a bar manager of one of the cafes, who asked not to be named: “On Monday, there were only two couples with QR codes in the hall, and the most interesting thing is that these are young guys.

At this time, we usually have respectable uncles and aunts who come to have dinner, drink, and talk. "

Revenue fell three times compared to regular Mondays, adds the interlocutor of RT: "On Friday, the scale of the disaster will become clear."

According to Sergey Mironov, authorized in the sphere of restaurant business in the capital, the flow of restaurant customers on the first day of the transition to the “no-kink” mode of work decreased by at least 80%.

“But if the flow is reduced by at least 30%, then a normal restaurant ceases to be profitable.

And most gastronomic restaurants, I think, are easier to close, they will be hit, ”TASS quotes him.

In Moscow, there are about three thousand summer verandas, and they can be of different configurations - if it is not possible to allocate a separate area for tables and chairs, then wide low window sills can also be decorated as verandas.

Niches in one of these establishments, Santa Maria, are busy with visitors.

“This is temporary,” the posters hung on the doors and counters remind.

There are no clients in the hall, "like in the Mausoleum," says the waitress.

“This is the law.

We also hope for the best, ”reads the inscription on other posters.

The Smoke BBQ is also hoping for the best.

There are only a few free tables on the veranda, while in the halls the ratio is reversed.

Guests wishing to visit this introverted paradise have their body temperature measured and the QR code verified against their passports.

“For all the time that we have been working in this mode, we have become accustomed to masks and gloves,” the bartender notes philosophically, mixing cocktails.

"But, of course, I want to get rid of all this as soon as possible."

He believes that the introduction of QR codes will rather help than hinder: “At least, I hope that when COVID-free establishments start working en masse, we will be able to work without gloves and masks.

It would be logical. "

Haters in social networks

Some establishments began to work only to take away.

In particular, the fast food chains McDonald's, KFC and Burger King have so far switched to this format.

Visitors are encouraged to eat on the verandas or order delivery.

The Central Market has also introduced the take away format, and, judging by the announcements, since June 12.

There is emptiness inside, chairs are placed on tables, everything is wrapped in yellow-black tape and it looks like the owners decided to do a general cleaning.

However, in order to find free space on one of the two large verandas below, you have to try - or, cheating, climb the half-empty roof, where the third veranda is located.

At the same time, the guards only measure the temperature of visitors, and it seems that they are more concerned about the sudden ban on photography and video filming.

You will not find an empty space on the veranda of the neighboring "Coffeemania".

But the owners of QR codes can choose not just a table to their liking, but the whole hall.

The waiter chuckles when it comes to the popular meme “Unvaccinated Muscovites ask vaccinated visitors to pour them risotto”: “We slightly expanded the veranda, there is a full seating position.

There were a maximum of four tables in the hall at the same time. "

The network recently faced hundreds of angry comments announcing new rules on its Instagram account.

Users compared the restrictive measures to "support for fascism, segregation and genocide" and promised never to cross the threshold of this institution again.

“I was pleased that there were also many comments with words of support, many people wrote, they say, guys, we are with you.

I hope people will treat these measures with understanding, "added the interlocutor of RT.

The Instagram account of the Chinese News restaurant was also attacked by haters with similar wording.

“Talk about fascism, about the refusal of vaccinations and other x *** - shove yourself in one place.

The freedom of a normal person ends where the freedom and safety of another begins.

If you want to be completely free, without codes and vaccinations, you are lucky that you live in huge Russia, which has tons of cool places for a secluded life with awesome hunting and fishing.

Sometimes I think about moving myself, ”commented the owner of the network Stanislav Lisichenko in his telegram channel.

"This is absurd"

The new rules for visiting public catering even affected the Patriarch's Ponds - an area that, it would seem, always lives by its own laws. Verandas and window-sills with pillows are covered with people as densely as they are deserted in the premises. For example, on the roof of the recently opened Pavilion - full seating. Female hostesses, whose uniforms are complemented by guipure gloves and stylish black masks, not only check the passport code, but also urge to wear personal protective equipment while driving to the table - although the explanatory posters say that vaccinated, have had a history of illnesses or passed negative PCR -test visitors do not have to do this.

At the door of the LureMe establishment, a frustrated man waves a folded piece of paper in front of an employee.

Hussein came from Saudi Arabia and received his fourth refusal in the evening: there are no seats on the verandas, and they cannot let him into the hall, although he and his family are vaccinated.

“I got the Pfizer vaccine in my home country, I have a certificate with a barcode, the vaccine is recognized all over the world,” says Hussein RT.

"The inside of the cafe is empty, but I cannot get there because my vaccine is not Russian."

According to the man, in order to do a PCR test for three people, he will have to pay 12 thousand rubles.

“It's just absurd, you create problems for tourism out of the blue and scare guests away,” he says indignantly.

The results of the PCR test, which give the right to attend catering establishments or events with more than 500 people, are valid for three days from the date of issue.

Restaurateurs jokingly predict the appearance of "weekend tests" - so that there will be enough for the weekend.

According to the head of the department of trade and services, Aleksey Nemeryuk, some businessmen are ready to compensate for the costs of PCR tests to their visitors who are unable to get vaccinated or who were asymptomatic.

In particular, the owner of the Rappoport Restaurants chain, Alexander Rappoport, and the Krasota restaurant, owned by the White Rabbit Family, are ready to take such measures.

Meanwhile, the demand for tests has become so high that it takes several days to wait in line at the city polyclinic.

The largest chains of private clinics also note an increased demand for tests.

The FAS Russia said that in connection with citizens' appeals about the rise in prices for PCR tests and tests for antibodies from COVID-19, the department began a check.

At the same time, the darknet has already started selling fake QR codes for visiting public catering.

The average cost is 11 thousand rubles.

“Experts have found at least ten advertisements for the sale of QR-passes on shadow forums.

These announcements were published back in May.

Initially, they contained information about the purchase of fake vaccination certificates and their entry into the State Services database.

However, after the decision of the Moscow authorities to enter QR codes, the attackers edited the description, ”RIA Novosti quotes Evgeny Voloshin, director of BI.ZONE expert services.

He suggested that applications for generating fake QR codes, as well as programs for detecting fake images, may soon appear.

According to Voloshin, with a high flow of customers, waiters or security guards who manually check the code using a regular smartphone camera may not notice that the code leads to a malicious resource.