Categories: Economy

Establishments will operate with 100% capacity from today

Establishments will operate with 100% capacity from today

The Government eliminated from today the capacity limits that governed in closed establishments at the national level. The measure was made official through a supreme decree published yesterday in the official newspaper El Peruano.

The decision of the Executive, which was initially announced by the head of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism (Mincetur), Roberto Sánchez, was a constant demand of the business associations of the sectors most affected by the pandemic.

Economic recovery figures

Jose Luis Silva Martinotspokesperson for the Association of Restaurant Guilds of Peru, indicated that the elimination of capacity will mainly benefit small and medium-sized gastronomic businesses.

He stressed that the removal of this restriction will allow the reactivation of jobs in the sector that to date has lost more than 1.5 million jobs. “Taking into account that there are about 90,000 restaurants, about 100,000 people more or less would be hired in the following weeks.”

Along these lines, Blanca Chávez, from Ahora Peru, projected that the authorization for restaurants to operate at 100% will also mean an increase in sales by at least 40%.

On the other hand, the main commercial conglomerates in the country also assure that they will benefit from the new provision.

Susana Saldaña, president of Gamarra Peru, stated that the elimination of capacity will favor, in particular, the production workshops that will return to 100% operation. Which in turn will help meet the commercial emporium’s goal to recover its workforce by at least 80% by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, César Vásquez, spokesman for the Las Malvinas business front, calculated that sales in the shopping center would grow by 20% “with an upward projection of up to 30% or 35%.” While the number of jobs could reach 150,000. The current figure is between 100,000 and 120,000, approximately.

Román Nazario, a representative of Mesa Redonda, estimated that retail revenues would increase by at least 10%. Meanwhile, the level of employment would grow between 5% and 10%, which would allow reaching a workforce equivalent to 75% of the pre-pandemic figure; that is, 90,000 direct and indirect jobs.

sanitary look

Despite the fact that the limit of users grouped in shops was released, the Executive did not establish new protocols. The norm only reminds that the social distancing of 1 meter and the use of masks must be respected.

For Percy Mayta-Tristán, doctor and director of research at the Universidad Científica del Sur, this decision reveals that the economy is being prioritized instead of health.

Likewise, he commented that the norm is contradictory, since the capacity is eliminated, but at the same time it is requested that there be social distancing, which could not be respected with the new provision. In this sense, he suggested that the protocols be updated and that there be better supervision of the municipalities.

In this regard, the representatives of the business associations agree that they will continue to work in accordance with the established health measures.

reactions

José Silva Martinot, restaurant union representative

“What has been done is that now restaurants of less than 200 m2 can take advantage of the capacity that the protocol allows them. That is going to allow many restaurants that are on the brink of bankruptcy to recover.”

Percy Mayta-Tristán, doctor and researcher at UCSUR

“The rule contradicts, because clearly in certain places it is impossible to comply with the distance with 100% capacity. The protocols should definitely be updated.”

Source: Larepublica