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Fear of the risk of infection in closed spaces: new ways are sought for the cold season.
Brave the cold – In Corona’s time, guests prefer to stay outdoors
With the cold, the number of cases has increased – and at the same time the number of sales of all kinds of appliances with which it is possible to heat outdoors: heating pads, radiant heaters, fan heaters or thermal underpants. Of all these items, online retailer Digitec Galaxus sold 110-180 percent more than the previous year in September and October.
Fan heaters, for example, sell best in December. Before the crown winter, the previous sales record was broken in September.
In the crown winter, more people want to stay outdoors as long as the weather permits. Families want to move to the heated terrace with visitors. Grandparents order heating pads so they can meet their grandchildren outside the café in November. Retirees don’t want to run out of the usual table and buy new thermal pants.
As is so often the case in the crown crisis, the same is happening in other parts of Europe. Stoov, a Dutch manufacturer of heating pads, has sold four times more this year than last year, to private customers and restaurants. In Germany in particular, people seem to be preparing for winter. Before the crisis, Stoov was by far the best seller in the Netherlands. Today, on a normal day, more than half of the orders come from Germany.
Heating pads, radiant heaters, fan heaters – cafes, hotels, and restaurants also rely on these as long as there is no closure. But not only for that, transparent igloos or converted greenhouses are also expected that should fit in individual parking spaces.
Is the local pub still there after winter crowns?
The stakes are high. The Federal Council should announce new restrictions on Wednesday, restaurants would have to close at 10 pm The restaurant industry has suffered before. More than 30,000 jobs were lost in the summer, or 12 percent of all jobs. Even then, Casimir Platzer, president of the Gastrosuisse industry association, warned: “Our industry cannot function as it is now.”
Now the crown winter is imminent. Gastroenterology expert Peter Herzog estimates that the average business earns 25 percent less than last year. The restrictions would hurt, including the home office trend. The recession is forcing many to save. Company events would be canceled.
Many companies could not cope with this buildup of adverse trends, Herzog said. “Nobody knows how many give up. That also depends on the course of the pandemic. “
Some cities and cantons want to help. The canton of Bern wants to pay restaurants part of the cost of the heating pads. Baselland temporarily allows radiant heaters. Basel Stadt extends permission to use larger areas outside. Weather protection structures can be erected in the city of Zurich, but no permit is required. And it can be heated outside as long as renewable energy is used.
Is that enough to avoid further damage? Thomas Tellenbach, director of Gastroluzern, is skeptical. Installing additional buildings outdoors is usually not a viable option. There is a shortage of money and vandalism can be expected at night. Heating pads wouldn’t help.
You have to disinfect them again after each customer to comply with Covid regulations. That is not feasible. To say otherwise is a showcase. ”Misfortunes never come alone. Tellenbach says the federal council’s strict food rules have been misunderstood in many places.
Groups of more than 15 people are not advised in restaurants, as the Federal Council understood. The result is numerous rejections. “But that’s not the recommendation,” says Tellenbach. The only thing is, restaurants shouldn’t have more than 100 people at a time. The recommendation of 15 people applies in private: that is, if Mr. and Mrs. Müller have more than 15 people at home. In the meantime, however, some cantons have already enacted stricter regulations.
Iglus im Coronawinter
Others are trying new ways. The Brücke restaurant in Niedergösgen in the canton of Solothurn has acquired five transparent igloos, which it installs in its outdoor space in the Aare. They resemble the “bubbles” that protect visitors to restaurants from the cold on the streets of New York.
The guests are left alone, the starters and the raclette are ready. The staff only comes to clean and bring dessert. Host Markus Gfeller wanted to take precautions if the fear of enclosed interiors became too great. “In igloos, guests who want to be completely alone can also spend a pleasant evening.”
In Zurich, a well thought-out plan was drawn up at the “Waldner Partner” architectural firm. Converted greenhouses should please everyone. Such a greenhouse fits into a single parking space and can be expanded to any number of parking spaces. This attracts the political left, which already wants fewer parking spaces.
Greenhouses soon converted in Swiss cities
The restaurateur gets more space for his guests. In order to pay for temporary construction, I would have to allow him the greenhouse in the two winters after Corona. This would also improve your prospects and fewer restaurateurs would have to give up. Noise-plagued residents are also served. Restaurant guests are less audible behind glass panes in a greenhouse than when they are having fun outside. The crystals would be made of safety glass, the vandals would have to come with a hammer.
If converted for use in cities: greenhouse
He also wants to do justice to environmentally conscious people. The greenhouses would be heated with infrared heaters. These, in turn, run on electricity from the cantonal power station, which only supplies electricity from renewable sources.
Will such greenhouses be found soon in Swiss cities? Some providers have recognized the opportunity. Restaurants are already reviewing models. Waldner Partner is said to have to wait and see. But the Zurich city council recently approved the construction of temporary buildings without the need for a permit. “So the chances are good.”
