As soon as the outdoor catering is allowed to open again, there are the first problems. Concerned citizens reported to this editorial office as well as to the city of Würzburg and complained about the Alte Mainmühle restaurant. This had completely enclosed their outdoor spaces on the balconies with a view of the Main on Father’s Day on Ascension Day with tent tarpaulins. The concern of the citizens: the tent enclosure prevents aerosols from evaporating, as in closed rooms.
The city of Würzburg sees it the same way, says Christian Weiß from the city’s press office on request. “Enclosing the balconies with tarpaulins is not permitted and has already been prohibited with immediate effect.” The reason given is that this type of hospitality is equivalent to indoor or winter garden and is not allowed according to the 12th Bavarian ordinance on infection protection. “It is known that increased aerosol accumulation in closed rooms can lead to an increase in the risk of infection with the coronavirus,” the press spokesman continued.
Always have hygiene and distance rules at hand
If the covering with tarpaulin is a kind of “night protection”, which is only appropriate when there are no guests on the balcony areas, this is entirely permissible and possible, explains Weiß. At the latest, however, when a guest is on the balcony, adequate ventilation must be ensured, “this is the only way that legally permissible operation can take place”. In this case that would be at least removing or completely opening the tent tarpaulin on “two sides of the respective balcony area”. In addition, according to press spokesman Weiß, the restaurateurs would of course have to adhere to the prescribed hygiene and distance rules. The distances between the tables should ensure that the guests can keep the necessary distance of at least 1.5 meters from other people when they sit down and leave the restaurant.
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Ask the host of the Mainmühle
When this editorial team asked the restaurateur of the Mainmühle, Jan Endres, he said that he wanted to protect his guests from rain in the inconsistent weather. “I know that ventilation has to be carried out, and we did that too,” he affirmed. The tarpaulins were open at two ends. But why was it not so, at least at times?
It was probably guests who closed the tarpaulin themselves because of the bad weather, he suspects. But now he has completely removed the side panels, “so that this can no longer happen”. In addition, the dwelling would be removed in the next few days “since it only disturbs in summer”.
There is still no information about the further action taken by the city against the operator – for example, whether there will be a fine. The fact is that further careful opening steps towards indoor catering can only be planned if the incidence is below 50, says Weiß.
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