Restaurant and café terraces may operate under enhanced safety conditions from 7 May

From 7 May, the provision of on-site catering services outdoors—in restaurant and café terraces—is permitted to resume under enhanced safety conditions. Until now, only takeaway food sales had been permitted.

No more than four adults may be seated at one table, excluding minor children, and they may come from no more than two households; however, the total number of people may not exceed ten (i.e. adults and children).

A distance of at least two metres must be ensured between people seated at different tables if no partitioning wall has been installed between the tables. Cutlery, tableware and napkins must be provided individually to each visitor; tables must be disinfected after each meal (each visitor), and employees and visitors at catering establishments must wear face masks covering the mouth and nose while on the premises, except when seated at the table.

To prevent increased gatherings of people at catering establishments during the late evening hours, a restriction is imposed on the hours during which catering establishments may provide on-site services outdoors: they may open no earlier than 6:00 a.m. and must close no later than 9:00 p.m. After 9:00 p.m., catering establishments may provide food only for takeaway.

At the same time, similarly to retail establishments, catering establishments must also designate a responsible person to organise the implementation of the specified epidemiological safety measures. The responsible person must be continuously present at the catering service premises during its operating hours; upon the request of an official of a supervisory or control authority, they must provide the necessary information on the implementation of epidemiological safety measures at the catering service premises; and, in an objectively verifiable manner, identify and indicate the number of visitors present at the catering service premises during an inspection.

Information that is clearly legible and publicly accessible, including in foreign languages, must also be displayed in places visible to visitors (at least at the entrance and cash desk), stating the maximum permitted number of people who may be present at the service premises at the same time, the contact information of the responsible person, and the contact information of the municipal police.