Decision to reopen hotels and restaurants in Mumbai soon: CM

Mumbai : More relaxations are set to be placed in Mumbai with CM Uddhav Thackeray announcing reopening of restaurants and hotels soon; he said that a mechanism is being worked out to reopen the industry with coronavirus in mind.

CM Uddhav Thackeray held a video conference with officials of the Hotels Association in the state and asked them not to fire their staff in this time of crisis as the government is trying a way to reopen them.

"Hotels as well as lodges, which are important industries in the tourism business, have to be allowed with great care before starting. Your responsibility is two-fold," Thackeray said adding that every visitor to the hotel will have to undergo a medical examination to ensure that the traveler is healthy.

The representatives for the hotel industry informed them some of the hotels should be allowed to re-open with social distancing measures as 80% of the staff is migrant one.

According to a statement from the government, the covid-19 induced lockdown has impacted the hotel and restaurant industry's business by over ₹six lakh crore. The industry representatives argued that a family can come to hotels with all kinds of care and security. If the tables are arranged accordingly, there will be no problem in keeping them clean.

Currently, most of the hotels have been taken over by the municipality to serve as a quarantine facility for workers involved in covid-19 relief work and also for patients. The representatives said if they get a little pay then they would be able to cover the running expenses.