What time should the bars close?

The bars and restaurants in Cali that have permission to operate must close before 1:00 am from this Thursday, due to the curfew and dry law announced by the Mayor’s Office, which currently applies from December 10 to 16.

The curfew and prohibition will be in effect between 1:00 am and 5:00 am each day, the Mayor’s Office said. This will mean that the bars and restaurants must close at least one hour before the start of the measure.

According to Argemiro Cortés, Secretary of Economic Development, bars and restaurants will be impacted by this measure, since it does not include special permits for workers in that sector.

“Surely the bars will have to close between one and two hours before 1:00 am, this is going to impact them strongly, but it is a sacrifice that must be made to reduce the level of COVID-19 infections in the city” he explained.

You can read: Prohibition and curfew in Cali from this Thursday until December 16

The official pointed out that the idea of ​​this measure is to warn the community to comply with biosafety standards, because if the level of occupancy of ICU beds is not reduced, the curfew may be extended.

“I regret this measure because it greatly affects the economy of the city, but we understand that people’s health and lives come first,” he said.

In addition, Cortés commented that these measures are going to hit the economy just at the moment that a recovery was most needed, since December represents 35% of commercial income for the year.

With regard to the end-of-year parties and face-to-face events, the official said that there is still hope for them to take place.

“I still do not rule them out, we must wait this week as the issue of covid evolves. I hope that certain commercial activities can be reactivated and that on December 15 we will be giving good news,” he said.

And he added that “it would be terrible for the economy if the measures were stronger starting on the 16th because if there is no recovery in December in January and February there is less. For example, one of the goals was to recover 50,000 jobs this season, but being optimistic with these measures we would barely reach a figure of 15,000 “.

“This measure can lead us to bankruptcy”: Asobares

According to Manuel Pineda, president of Valle Chapter Asobares, with this measure, night bars and restaurants would have to close at least at 11:00 at night.

“We are very concerned with this measure because now we would have to close at 11:00 pm due to the administrative processes that must be done, such as the cash register and all the cleaning of the establishment,” he said.

For Pineda, this measure can lead them to bankruptcy, since it is limiting one of the sectors hardest hit by the covid-19 pandemic.

“It is not an exaggeration when I say that this measure can lead us to bankruptcy, if before we were working at a loss or break-even, with the curfew at that time they can push many establishments to a total closure,” he said.

The president of Asobares Valle chapter also said he was surprised, since the Municipal Administration did not contact this union to notify them about the measure, which makes the impact, in economic terms, stronger.

“We are surprised because there was never a meeting table to notify us of the measure, many of us already had contracts and promotions ready and now we will have to cancel, which represents losing more money,” he said.

Finally, Manuel Pineda called on the authorities to listen to them and to reach a middle ground, since December was the hope of recovery for many.

“We ask the Mayor’s Office to apply the exception to workers and clients, just as they did at the toughest moment of the pandemic, when people could present the invoice and workers the labor letter to be able to transit after 1 : 00 am “

It should be remembered that according to the most recent report from the Ministry of Health, in Cali there have been 81,918 cases of covid-19, but only 7,035, approximately, are active.

The curfew and dry law go from this Thursday, December 10 until next Wednesday, December 16, between 1:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m.