There will be no more partying until the wee hours of the morning. Not even in the so-called night cafes, which emerged especially in the Helsinki area as a result of restrictions on the opening hours of bars and restaurants.
These night cafes did not serve alcohol, but some customers came to them with a good supply of drinks in their backpacks, explained some of their visitors. The matter was soon in the police reports, which has led the government to react and tighten the restrictions on the activity of the bars at dawn.
On Tuesday, the coalition government led by the Social Democrat Prime Minister Sanna Marin rectified its decision about the allowed opening hours for bars and restaurants, in order to put an end to the 'night cafes', which flourished in Helsinki in the wake of the restrictions on the activity of food and beverage businesses.
Confusion
Since the end of October, when the government issued a decree to put limits on the activity of bars and restaurants, the issue of opening hours has generated some confusion among entrepreneurs in this sector.
Thus, on November 5, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health had to issue a clarifying note to clear up "some ambiguity" that had arisen about whether a business could resume the service of alcoholic beverages after a closing time.
The clarification said that restaurants and bars could reopen their doors as night cafes within an hour after closing. Thus, a business that had stopped serving alcohol at 24.00 and must close at 1.00 could reopen as a night café starting at 2.00, for example. The condition was that they could not resume the sale of alcoholic beverages until 7:00.
The new regulation made several bars in Helsinki opt for this type of business, and they remained open at dawn. They simply had to close for an hour after 1:00 and remove alcohol from their menus until 7:00. But soon the police of the capital city reported that in some of those places there were drunk people, who did not observe social distancing and other security measures.
Tighter restrictions
Now, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health decided that partying until the wee hours of the morning is over.
The Ministry said in a press release that as of Thursday 26 November, restaurants and other food and beverage service businesses in the region of Uusimaa will be subject to tighter restrictions than the other regions in Finland.
The decree will address the activities of night cafes by restricting their opening hours. In future, food and beverage service businesses could, after closing, reopen their doors at 5.00 at the earliest and stay open until 23.00. These limitations would not apply to the businesses operating in connection with service stations.
All food and beverage service businesses in Uusimaa must stop serving alcohol by 22.00 as before.
The number of customer seats in restaurants that primarily serve alcoholic beverages will continue to be restricted to half the normal total.
Restaurants serving food would be allowed to seat 75% of their normal number of customers.
Regions in acceleration phase
The restrictions on food and beverage service businesses operating in Southwest Finland, Pirkanmaa, Kanta-Häme and Ostrobothnia will remain unchanged as from 26 November.
This means that bars and restaurants in these areas will be allowed to serve alcohol between 7.00 and 22.00. Restaurants that primarily serve alcoholic beverages may be open between 00:00 and 23:00 and they will be allowed to seat half of their normal number of customers.
Other restaurants may be open between 01.00 and 24.00 and seat 75% their normal number of customers.
Other regions
The number of customer seats will not be limited in regions where the epidemic is at a stable level. All food and beverage service businesses will be allowed to serve alcohol between 7.00 and 24.00. Restaurants that primarily serve alcoholic beverages may be open between 2.00 and 1.00.
The opening hours of other restaurants will not be restricted.
Government said these "restrictions will remain in force only for as long as it is necessary, but no longer than until 15 December 2020."
