The current set of rules expires on 12 June. This includes a curfew starting midnight, restaurants closing at 10pm, negative coronavirus test results for indoor dining, a limit of four guests per household and other restrictions.
“The closure at 10pm is much too early looking at the current situation. People want to benefit from the long summer evenings,” says Jean-Claude Colbach, director of the 1Com group, which manages five bars in the Rives de Clausen and a restaurant in Bambesch.
Colbach would also like to see a greater number of people allowed to sit together. “Four guests per table is too restrictive,” he says.
Hospitality sector federation Horesca last week demanded that a requirement for a negative coronavirus test result for indoor service be lifted. The government has supplied around 1m tests for the sector.
A Luxembourg trade confederation (CLC) on the other hand would like to see a one person per 10m2 limit for shops lifted. “This creates, in exceptionally crowded situations, points of concentration in front of stores or in shopping malls,” says deputy director Claude Bizjak.
A pain point for the cultural sector is the mandatory distance of 2 metres between spectators, which significantly limits capacity, in addition to a limit of 150 visitors for events unless a testing strategy is agreed with the health ministry.
“If we manage to reduce this distance to even 1.5 metres, we wouldn’t have to keep every other row empty or three places next to each group,” says Pablo Chimienti, communications manager for the Theater Federatioun.
The theatre association would also like to see food and drink permitted at events to boost revenue and improve the experience for guests.
Business owner Claude Legrand this week will be reopening his bowling alley in Foetz and an indoor children’s playground in Pétange, closed since 26 November.
“The rules are completely contradictory,” he says, with his business caught between rules targeting the leisure, sports and hospitality sectors. After long negotiations with health authorities to clarify rules--a maximum of 10 people per building, a ban on food and drinks, social distancing--Legrand is finally ready to reopen, but at a decidedly bad time.
“In our activity, we generate the majority of our turnover in the winter months,” he says.
To make the coming months easier, the Luxembourg Event Association expects the government to present a plan outlining a possible reopening step by step. The month-to-month changes prevent the sector from planning ahead, says LEA president Charles Schroeder.
Bettel (DP) and Lenert (LSAP) will be hosting a press conference on 2 June at 3pm following a meeting of the government earlier in the day. Parliament will then have to approve the new rules before 12 June.