By Joanna Plucinska and Cuba Stezycki
WARSAW (Reuters) – Police visited Maciej Adamski’s restaurant north of the Polish capital 16 times in ten days and told him he had to shut down the store due to coronavirus restrictions, but Adamski was not convinced it was strictly correct.
His restaurant, Qlturalni Qlinarni Q&Q, serves traditional Polish food, the walls decorated with guitars and other instruments.
“Do not be afraid,” he told Reuters one lunch, surrounded by less than half a dozen customers. ‘Everyone (restaurants) has to open because these restrictions are not enforceable.
“… We open up and survive or we all close. Everything we have worked for so many years will simply disappear.”
Poland on Monday eased some restrictions across the country, with shopping malls allowed to open and gyms and restaurants ordered to stay closed.
According to the Polish Gastronomic Chamber of Commerce, up to 20,000 restaurants are expected to open in any case, without sufficient financial support and lack of clarity on enforceable laws.
Adamski has condemned police for a raid on a nightclub in the southern city of Rybnik. According to media reports, they used tear gas and batons against patrons, but he said he was not worried about similar actions against him.
A spokesman for the Rybnik police did not immediately respond to calls and SMS requests for comment.
To mitigate the impact of the pandemic, Poland has launched a multi-million zloty business support scheme. But Adamski said support did not last long enough.
“If it was the same as in other countries of the European Union, we would close quietly and worry about nothing,” he said. “But what we have today is a tragedy.”
A government spokesman did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment on financial support offered.
Gymnasiums face a similar dilemma, and the Polish Fitness Federation has argued that the existing restrictions in Poland are initially confusing and therefore easy to get around.
“If the law is strange, sometimes in a funny way, sometimes in a vague way, and we can work in it, then we will do it,” said Federation head Tomasz Napiorkowski.
He said the federation would ask the government for compensation for losses suffered and that many gyms would prefer to continue with health precautions.
Sebastian Twardowski (27) wanted to eat at Qlturalni Qlinarni on Monday, arguing that restaurants need all the help and that he feels completely safe amid Adamski’s measures to ensure neatness and distance.
“Here the tables are far apart, everything is taken care of from a sanitary perspective,” Twardowski told Reuters.
“I think I’m more scared to go to the store than to a restaurant.”
(Reported by Joanna Plucinska and Cuba Stezycki)
Originally published