After over a month of lockdown, Lebanon is gradually reopening its businesses.
Around a week ago, the Lebanese government decided on a 5-step plan based on potential risk and priorities:
- Step 1 involves reopening some factories, government companies, delivery stores, hotels, sweet shops, etc.
- Step 2, which starts on Monday, will see the reopening of restaurants, playgrounds, outdoor sports stadiums, salons, barbershops, mechanic workshops, and some industries.
- Step 3, starting May 11th, will allow the reopening of nurseries for children below 3-years old, as well as Casino Du Liban and car dealerships.
- Step 4 involves the reopening on May 25th of universities, International Baccalaureate (I.B.) classes, and malls and shopping centers.
- Step 5 will reopen all schools, public transportation, travel, nightclubs (capacity 50%), gyms, beaches, museums, theaters, etc, on June 8th, practically returning life to normal.
This plan is executed under strict measures and it started on April 27th and will end June 8th.
As for Monday, May 4th, Lebanon will enter the second stage, which means restaurants and cafes will reopen across Lebanon.
The government obligates these restaurants to only allow 30% of customers at a time and prohibits serving shisha.
However, every store is setting its own policies and procedures to keep people safe.
Swiss Butter, a famous Lebanese restaurant in Beirut with a branch in Dubai, gave a glimpse of what it’ll be like for restaurants in Lebanon after quarantine.
People will be required to stand on green spots placed outside the restaurant, thus ensuring social distancing. Before entering the store, customers as well as staff members will be sanitized “from head to toe” and scanned for a fever.
The customers will be seated on tables that are 2 meters away from each other, with hand gel sanitizers at each table where only four people are allowed at a time.
The staff will all be wearing gloves and face masks and will stay 1 meter away from the customer during interactions. Cutlery and napkins will be sanitized and served in sealed sachets.
Queues will be avoided, and anyone who shows to have a fever at the door, customer or staff, will not enter the store. Dining spaces will also be sanitized after each visit.
And last but not least, a per table timing of 1 hour has been allocated for back to back tables, the last 10 minutes of this one hour is used for the sanitization of the dining space.
All Lebanese restaurants are on the same path and follow the same rule: Safety first!
We have a dedicated coronavirus section where you can find the latest news/updates about the pandemic in Lebanon, inform yourself with WHO-verified resources, and track the number of cases in Lebanon in real-time. Click here.
