Will the terraces of Luxembourg's restaurants and cafés be able to reopen next week? The Prime Minister confirmed in an RTL podcast that the issue will be on the agenda of the government council scheduled for Wednesday afternoon. A press conference will be held afterwards to announce the conclusions.
The Horesca sector already reacted to Xavier Bettel's statements by reminding that the current closure of cafés and restaurants theoretically ends on 2 April. This is true, since the restrictions voted at the end of March were only extended until that date. The reopening of the terraces will therefore certainly not be the only issue discussed at this government council.
According to what PM Bettel said on Tuesday, he would be in favour of limiting the re-openings to the terraces, but the sanitary protocol, although far from being decided on at the moment, could be close to what has been put in place by the city of Trier, namely, the introduction of a very strict sanitary procedure. The arrival of rapid tests could indeed play a role.
When asked about this in the podcast "Wellenbriecher", the Prime Minister was hesitant about the restrictions that could be put in place in the event of a reopening of the terraces. For small establishments, imposing a quick test would not be a problem, but for large terraces... One could not ask a hundred customers to queue up, which is why the issue needs to be studied first.
What we do know, however, is that rapid tests will be part of our daily life in the future. This was one of the few points that Xavier Bettel made in his interview with our radio colleagues. He was also relatively clear about the reopening of indoor restaurants, stating that for now, they are only concerned with outdoor activities. The current numbers of the pandemic do not allow a return normal indoor activities.
As any good speaker, the Prime Minister mentioned outdoor "activities". This suggests that amateur sports, which have been at a standstill for weeks, could possibly be resumed by going through a quick test. Of course, this is only an interpretation that will have to be confirmed following the government council that will take place this afternoon.
In terms of easing lockdown, Xavier Bettel underlined that the situation in our hospitals was far from forcing the government to make choices with a 20% occupancy of hospital beds. However, one should not expect a return to normal life as of 2 April.
You can follow the press conference of the Luxembourg government at 3.30 pm in our liveticker.
