JOIN USKarnataka sees a dip in cases, reports 67 today.
In our conversations about the future, Amulya speaks to Manu Chandra, Bangalore Chapter Head of the NRAI, about challenges facing the restaurant business.
The daily update with Suraksha Pinnu.
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Hello. This the daily COVID update from Deccan Herald. I’m Suraksha..
On the bulletin today:
Karnataka reports 67 new cases, domestic flights are set to resume from 25th May....
As restaurants continue to stay closed during Lockdown 4.0, what does the future look like for the hospitality sector? Manu Chandra from the Head of the Bangalore Chapter of the National Restaurant Association of India joins us later in the bulletin.
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Not even acknowledged by the government was shocking.
Now it’s up to the states to help us in whatever ways. We are really in between a rock and a hard place.
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But first, a look at the daily figures
At the time of this recording, we’re still waiting for the figures from the states with high caseloads like Maharashtra. Barring these states, India has over 61,000 active cases in the country right now and...
ICMR has tested more than twenty five lakh samples for the novel coronavirus so far.
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In a big relief for flyers, Domestic civil aviation operations will recommence in a calibrated manner from Monday 25th May. All airports & air carriers are being informed to be ready for operations. Standard Operating procedure will be issued for fliers soon, but it is unlikely that middle seats will be left vacant. Travellers will have to download the Arogya Setu app as well as wear masks on the journey. Details of the flight sectors are awaited.
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In Karnataka, 67 new cases were reported today, a welcome dip compared to 149 cases yesterday.
However most of the like yesterday, continue to be from Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra. Except for 2 cases from Bengaluru whose source of infection remains to be ascertained, the rest are direct contacts of previously diagnosed patients and 1 patient from Dakshina Kannada has presented with symptoms of Severe Acute Respiratory Infection.
With 21 new cases, Hassan reported the highest number of COVID-19 cases in the State today...and all of the new patients have recently returned from Mumbai. Mandya has 8 new cases, again all from Mumbai. Bidar has reported 10 new cases, all of whom are contacts of previously diagnosed patients.
There has been 1 death in the State, Patient 1236, a 43-year-old man from Bengaluru, died due to comorbidities.
With this, the state has reported 1462 cases in total of which 864 are active cases. 556 patients have recovered, while 41 have died. The state has tested more than 8000 samples in the last 24 hours.
As the number of new cases with a history of domestic travel continue to surge, checking at the Pune-Bengaluru national highway, at Nippani taluk has been increased to ensure that those without travel passes are stopped. Data released yesterday had shown a high discrepancy between the number of people who had traveled with a Seva Sindhu pass, and the numbers reported at the border checkpost.
Most of those who have returned from other states, have travelled by road, and a far smaller percentage has traveled on Shramik trains. Neither of the two Shramik trains to have arrived in Karnataka has been from Maharashtra, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, and no other trains have been scheduled from these states in the near future.
With the lifting of several restrictions, life is slowly crawling back to normal in many parts of the country.
However, some sectors continue to be closed during Lockdown 4.0...one of which is the restaurant and the hospitality sector.
The ban on dine in continues across the country and the restaurant industry is reeling under losses. Last week the Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India has appealed to the Government for relaxation for the hospitality sector at least in the Green and Orange Zones, and asked that these be allowed to open.
The Indian Hospitality and Tourism industry is staring at a potential job loss of around 38 million, which is 70 percent of the total workforce, due to COVID-19. The hospitality sector did not find mention in the stimulus package announced by the finance Minister.
The Karnataka Pradesh Hotel and Restaurants' Association had met the Chief Minister yesterday, asking that dine in facilities be reopened, failing which they had threatened to stop takeaway facilities. Following their meeting, the Association has agreed to run takeaway services for 3 days, before discontinuing their services.
The MHA guidelines specifically bans restaurants from reopening during Lockdown 4.0 and has emphasised that individual states can’t dilute these provisions.
In Bengaluru, the city’s vibrant food culture is now a nostalgic memory to many Bengalureans who have been cooped up inside their house for almost 2 months. As part of our conversations looking to a future post lockdown, my colleague Amulya, spoke to Manu Chandra, who is the Bengaluru Chapter head of National Restaurants Association of India on the unprecedented challenges facing the industry.
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Thank you Manu for joining us.
So my first question is, what have the past few weeks been like for you for the industry?
Well, the past few weeks, have honestly been one of great trepidation, a lot of uncertainty, a lot of worry. not only in Bangalore globally, this pandemic has wreaked havoc on the hospitality industry, to the degree to which I call a meteor strike, because never have we faced an adversity of this nature that has almost decimated the business.
How is your staff coping? You know, are they here? Have they gone back to their native places?
Well, you know, fortunately, this was the one silver lining is that as an industry, we had decided, largely a lot of establishment had decided to close before the official lockdown announcement was made. Because we were seeing global patterns. We were seeing that people were afraid to step out as early as you know, the first week of March. So anyway, we just took the call and we went ahead and closed that actually gave our staff a buffer zone, a buffer time to be able to get back to their homes when transport etc, was still on. So, a lot of them from across the industry were able to make it home.
Was there anything particular that you expected from the government package that was announced recently?
We expected a lot from the government. It's a phenomenally large industry. And, as I've always said, over and over again, that we are a gateway employer. We employ people who are not usually employable. And we bring them into the tax bracket to do a lot, actually, and to not even be acknowledged by the government was shocking, you know, now it's down to the states and we open the states can help us in whatever ways. So, you know, we're really between a rock and a hard place because without liquidity, how do we function, so the farmers that we buy from the suppliers that we buy from they all want to get impacted. And this chain reaction is something that no one's going to be addressing, and that is really a recessionary cycle.
So when you do open now, the what are the kind of changes that patrons are going to see?
With social distancing normal place, with the you know, a trust deficit with the consumer in place, all these are things that are being addressed constantly. The level of sanitation, the level of disinfection, the safety protocols, the SOPs that have been put in place at the F and B sector property greater than anywhere else, because we are very cognizant of the fact that, you know, we are, by nature, social places. And when you are a social place, you need to take that many more precautions, you know, our best efforts can make the risk disappear, but they can be reduced exponentially. And I think that is really what we working towards. And that's really where confidence is going to come from.
So how do you think the whole business model of restaurants. Is it going to change?
We RE all in these bustling urban centers where rents have become hyper inflated, principally because the demand was so high? Well, the demand is not there anymore. And even if the demand is there, it's only you know, the fact that you can only use 25% of it, 30% of it or whatever the norm that comes out. It completely alters your business model at a very, very fundamental level. Supply Chain from an import perspective is obviously going to take a hit also because you know, international products will become dearer and harder to find. They will be a mortality rate in the business and the pundits of pregnant anywhere between 20 to 40%. That's a substantial sum, which means businesses that will not be able to weather the storm over the next six to eight months.
So that means the road to recovery is full of challenges as of now, from where you stand…
There is no road. [Laughs] As far as I see it is covered the pothole roads of Bangalore, this is a lot worse. There is just no road on that refrain. I do feel that the consumer will definitely seek a lot more comfort in spaces and places and businesses who have established a reputation on high quality, hygienic, clean establishments. These are things that stay with people and I do feel that some of them will probably have an edge over the rest. I also feel that people who probably got funding or you know, had been able to build a certain level of cash reserves will be able to weather this even better. But, you know, that's not a majority of the people, the majority of the people work on a debt model. And you know, that's just worrying.
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A beak future there for a once thriving sector...
That's all from us today. For the latest updates, log on to deccanherald.com. Stay safe and we’ll see you tomorrow.