Kicillof's health pass was left in limbo and restaurants apply it at their discretion

Correspondent La Plata

08/08/2021 6:01 AM

• Clarín.com

• Society

Updated 08/08/2021 6:01 AM

The first attempt to impose a health pass to expand the capacity of public access in restaurants, shopping malls and markets in the Province

was left in an empty official announcement

.

Two weeks after its alleged start-up,

it transits between the regulatory void and the lack of information for the sectors involved, and therefore its practical application was left to the

almost exclusive discretion of each owner

.

On July 19, Axel Kicillof announced that businesses that serve the public in closed places could

expand the capacity allowed

by the epidemiological traffic light, if the client certified the application of a first dose of vaccine against Covid-19.

It involved

increasing from 30% to 50%

the permission of the public to enter bars, cafes, shopping centers and markets in the districts declared in phase 3 of isolation due to the pandemic (there are 48).

For those in phase 4 (87 municipalities) it allows increasing

customer access from 50% to 70%

.

The condition for this extra permit:

certify vaccination against the virus

.

It was to begin to apply from Monday, July 26, but was postponed due to administrative delays in the drafting and publication of the decree.

It entered into force - according to the authorities -

three days later

.

The "sanitary permit" was left in an advertisement.

The alleged regulation is limited to a table issued by the Chief of Cabinet where it establishes that a specific list of premises has a capacity of "30% + 20 vaccinated";

or “50% + 20% vaccinated”.

They are on a list of more than 129 "essential activities" that are achieving

flexibility from changes in epidemiological conditions

.

Own criterion

In practice, each gastronomy business, brewery, bar or restaurant

decides with its own criteria how to implement the passport

.

“There was no official information outside of the journalistic news.

No instructions or recommendations were sent from the municipalities.

Nor did they give us regulations to require any documentation or supervision from the inspectors.

The health pass, on a day-to-day basis, did not materialize

”,

the president of the Buenos Aires Gastronomic Federation, Diego Faggioli

, told

Clarín

.

Customers in a bar in La Plata.

The health pass did not materialize, recognize the gastronomic ones.

Photo Mauricio Nievas

Kicillof explained - when he reported the news - that the municipalities would be responsible for enforcing the provision.

“He did the easy one: he announced a complex measure for the mayors to apply.

And he did not even set the clear rules

, ”a director of inspectors from a district in the North complained to this newspaper.

In La Plata and other districts, businessmen agreed with "the idea", but recognized that it is

complex to implement

.

“La Plata restaurant owners take care of themselves and comply with the protocols to protect customers.

But we cannot take charge of financing the building modifications and also control everyone who enters, ”said a leader of IDEAR, the Argentine Entertainment Industry.

“

We cannot put people to control.

We must concentrate on serving the people who choose us ”, the businessman completed.

The item that groups nightlife and confectioneries was one of the sectors most affected by the social restrictions that were imposed since March 2020. In La Plata,

one out of every three businesses closed

in this year and a half.

“We watched with enthusiasm these kinds of decisions.

But I can't say that all the places actually

comply with that protocol and those percentages

”, acknowledged Carlos Leuzzi, president of PULPA, an entity that brings together local gastronomic companies.

The Cabinet Chief's resolution includes the markets and handicraft fairs and shopping malls in the health pass system.

"I do not know that regulation.

I didn't see anyone asking for a vaccination certificate.

With the constant circulation of people who pass by here, it

is impossible to measure when it is at 50% or when it is at 30%

"acknowledged a merchant who has a shop with windows facing the street in a shopping center in the provincial capital.

The walk is less than 100 meters from the Government.

But the instructions for the health pass did not reach that place either.

La Plata (Correspondent)

AS

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