MOSCOW, June 22. /TASS/. Moscow restaurants may lose 90% of their visitors due to the change over of establishments to a covid-free regime from June 28, Sergey Mironov, public commissioner in the restaurant business under the Moscow business ombudsman, told TASS on Tuesday. 

As the city mayor Sergey Sobyanin said earlier in his blog, that from June 28 only those who have recovered from COVID-19 no longer than six months ago, vaccinated against COVID-19 or have a negative coronavirus test that lasts for three days, will be allowed to visit public catering in Moscow.

"Restaurants will not be able to work in this regime from June 28 so they will lose 90% of their guests. They can introduce such measures when 60% of the public is vaccinated - restaurants that have lost 40% of guests will somehow figure it out," Mironov said. According to him, the decision will have a negative impact on the industry.

Earlier, it was reported that the Moscow government has obliged restaurants and cafes to create a system to use QR codes to check if visitors have been vaccinated against coronavirus. From June 28, catering enterprises that do not fulfill this requirement will only be able to offer take-aways or delivery.

Other establishments will be able to work without time limits and will not require visitors to wear masks and gloves (this remains mandatory for staff). Entertainment in bars and nightclubs from 23:00 to 06:00 is still prohibited.