Many employees in the catering industry are young people who often earn extra money in addition to their studies. They belong to the group that were tempted to get the Janssen vaccine because of Minister De Jonge’s ‘dancing with Janssen’ argument. Young people who got such a shot were allowed by the minister to go to a club, disco or festival the same evening.
Don’t hold on
The infections in that age category have skyrocketed after the relaxation of more than two weeks ago. “Now suddenly it is going so fast because of infections at festivals, clubs and dance cafes,” says Schreutelkamp. “That ‘dancing with Janssen’ makes no sense at all. A shot in the afternoon and going out in the evening. How is that possible? Shortly before that, we were still in lockdown?”
A large part of the staff of The Streetfood Club had to quarantine for 5 days because they had been in contact with someone who was infected. “Other employees had to pay for that. You can work 60 hours a week, but you cannot sustain that. We have now said: enough is enough. We take our responsibility and close our business.”
Schreutelkamp also closed his other business in the center of Utrecht, the Rum Club, on Monday. “We will remain closed until we can open responsibly again.”
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Departed staff
Restaurant De Karavaan in Amsterdam also closed its doors due to a shortage of staff due to quarantine measures. They were closed on Sunday and Monday. “Today we reopened,” says Nina, who works in the ministry. “In terms of staffing, things are going well again. The clubs are also closed again, so we hope it stays that way.”
Koninklijke Horeca Nederland recognizes the image that many catering entrepreneurs are dealing with a staff shortage due to infections, although they cannot estimate how much business is involved in the Netherlands. Many catering staff had already left during the lockdown to work in other sectors. “You won’t get that back soon,” said a spokesperson.
But now the staff who must adhere to the measures are added. “In case of complaints, employees stay at home and have themselves tested. Unfortunately, in the case of a sick employee, this can mean that other colleagues also have to be tested, so that a catering business temporarily closes its doors or uses different opening hours.”
Frustration
Willem van Heijningen of the Utrecht restaurant Op Roose is – to say the least – frustrated by the closure. It closed its doors on Sunday. “We closed as a precaution. I will not cooperate with a seat of fire. It is misery. Those relaxations have gone far too quickly. Everything was allowed again from one day to the next. I cannot expect my staff to free time stay at home. So they are now in quarantine for five days and if they have a negative test today, hopefully I can open again tomorrow.”
Van Heijningen points to the past year which was very difficult for his business. “As entrepreneurs, we have already had quite a few blows. Every day that I remain closed costs thousands of euros. I am very disappointed.”
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