Establishments will only be able to prepare orders for delivery or collection at the premises, but they will not be allowed to serve food or drinks on terraces or indoors.
The regional government of Murcia is set to close all bars and restaurants in the Murcia region from Saturday, November 7, due to the spread of Covid-19 in the region. The decision, taken by the Covid-19 Monitoring Committee of the Region, implies that bars and restaurants may continue to have home delivery service and orders for pick-up at the establishment, but they will not be able to have customers either indoors or on outside terraces. The extreme measures are being taken in light of the contagion data recorded by the Region, which is at extreme risk, according to Ministry of Health indicators. In the last 24 hours, almost a thousand positives were detected in the Region of Murcia and 12 people died.
In addition to closing restaurants and bars, the Monitoring Committee recommended closing playgrounds and announced the implementation of the emergency contingency plan that will free up 500 beds in hospitals in the Region to avoid the collapse of emergency services.
Health spokesperson Jaime Pérez, justified the closure of bars and restaurants, claiming that the “health situation is at a critical moment” and pointed out that “only by limiting social interactions as much as possible” will it be possible to flatten the curve of this second wave.
Almost two weeks ago, central government decreed a state of alarm in order to impose a national curfew. A few days later, the Murcia regional government tightened its own restrictions with the perimeter closure of the Region of Murcia and each of the 45 internal municipalities.
This latest move to close bars and restaurants is one which other autonomous communities have already taken. Catalonia and Melilla made this decision in mid-October. Navarra did so too soon after, when it announced its perimeter closure. The most recent to do the same were, Asturias and Castilla-La Mancha, both of which made the announcement this week.