Self-tests to dance without a mask. “Very difficult in practice”, says Horeca Vlaanderen — © Sven Dillen
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Horeca Vlaanderen wants to immediately adjust the new measures in nightlife. “The choice between a mouth mask on the dance floor or a negative self-test turns out to be very difficult in practice,” says CEO Matthias De Caluwe. He again puts the 2G ticket (cured or vaccinated) on the table, so a negative test is no longer sufficient. And he asks for uniform rules for banquet halls, events, dance bars and discotheques.
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“The cancellations at party rooms and caterers are pouring in,” says De Caluwe. “The catering establishments that live on conferences and events are noticing the same trend.” But this weekend, the main focus was on the effect of the new measures in nightlife.
Discos may remain open, provided that everyone has a corona pass and wears a mouth mask. The latter can only be avoided with a negative self-test that is taken at the door. Several large discotheques invested in a covered “test street” last week. “The costs are very high,” says De Caluwe. “Purchasing thousands of self-tests and additional staff to administer and monitor the tests.” On the other hand, there are also fewer revenues, because the number of partygoers on Saturday was significantly lower than in previous weeks. In addition, the party halls complain because they are not allowed to work with the self-tests and therefore have to oblige mouth masks at every dance party with more than fifty attendees.
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Horeca Vlaanderen is therefore once again putting the 2G policy on the table, a proposal that was quickly brushed aside by the government at the beginning of last week. This means that non-vaccinated people no longer get a green screen with a negative PCR test. Only those who have been vaccinated or recovered can still enter discotheques with their corona pass (and do not have to wear a mouth mask there). “We ask that this measure is suddenly extended to dance cafes, banquet halls and events. After all, it concerns the same activities,” says De Caluwe.
Boycott
Last weekend, there was also a lot of grumbling from the catering industry about the call by the Minister of Health Frank Vandenbroucke (Vooruit) on Radio 1 to boycott catering establishments that do not comply with the checks on the corona pass. De Caluwe calls this “careless use of language that is not immediately conducive to the cooperation to which so many catering operators are prepared”. Vandenbroucke also seemed to realize this. On Sunday, he went back on his statement. “An unfortunate expression”, it sounded on RTL-TVI.
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