Moroccan Restaurants Face Fines and Closures for COVID-19 Safety Violations

It was a surprise inspection that had the merit of finding that several restaurants still do not realize the seriousness of the situation. Many of them not only receive fines to pay, but also a closure of a few days in order to get back on track for the well-being of customers and staff. Jean-Claude Kerenek is the owner of a former restaurant in Casablanca. He has no worries since the respect of barrier gestures and hygiene measures was already observed in his restaurant since the beginning.

"I had two visits 15 days ago. But since we, and from the start, are in order and well equipped, so we have no problem on that side," he told Hespress.

He said that "the public authorities mainly check whether all the staff are wearing masks, whether the distance between customers and tables is respected, whether there is a thermometer, whether the use of hydroalcoholic gel at the entrance for customers is in place as well as the cleaning of tables with a disinfectant solution". These are the conditions under which the reopening of restaurants was decided and accepted by all the professionals in the sector.

This is why the restaurant manager does not understand the carelessness of some of his colleagues. For him, it is important that restaurant and cafe operators insist with customers on the need to respect the measures taken by the authorities. "It’s true that customers once they are seated and want to move to the toilets, it’s complicated to convince them to wear a mask. There is a category of people who are unfortunately not disciplined," he said.

Today, even if the closing time has been extended from 11 p.m. to midnight, the professionals in the restaurant sector "would like things to return to normal after Eid Al-Adha". They hope at least to close at 1am and call on the authorities to be flexible in order to allow them to improve their turnover, the same source specifies.