Newsroom
Many restaurant owners in the Republic of Cyprus are closing their doors to all dine-in customers to protest new government measures that exclude unvaccinated clientele.
According to local media, a number of restaurants, bars and cafes in Cyprus have issued announcements on social media informing the public that doors would be closed to all dine-in customers to avoid discrimination between vaccinated and unvaccinated persons.
On Wednesday new controversial measures from the government went into effect barring unvaccinated individuals from attending social events, such as weddings and christenings, while also blocking them from entering indoors spaces such as restaurants and bars.
'Because we are ashamed to discriminate between people, we won’t open our coffee joint' one business wrote, saying delivery service would continue
Many announcements by businesses went up on social media on the same day.
“Because we are ashamed to discriminate between people, we won’t open our coffee joint,” one business wrote, saying delivery service would continue.
Another business establishment suggested government decisions were based on a “sloppy reading of the situation” and that “social division, discrimination, and unjustified restrictions on fellow citizens… were not the solution.”
Critics have accused the government of taking decisions aimed at boosting first-time vaccinations by making it difficult for the unvaccinated to access venues and certain public spaces.
Government officials say difficult decisions have been made after taking into account scientific views, but some experts have raised questions as to whether some specific measures were appropriate in the current fight to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
One restaurant owner who shut down dine-in service said he would have made the same decision if it was the other way around, explaining had vaccinated people not been allowed in he would still have closed door to all customers.
