Restaurants, Hotels Closed Amid Third Wave Surge: Pain Time Again For Industry?

by GoNews Desk 2 years ago Views 3487

Restaurant Industry To Take Hit Due To Pandemic Th
Amid the increasing number of coronavirus cases in the national capital Delhi, the state government has decided to stop the physical operations of hotels and restaurants, and the hospitality sector looks all set to absorb another blow because of the pandemic. This sector has proved to be the most susceptible to the pandemic not only in India but across the world. Presently, the government has allowed takeaway services but dine-in will remain out of bound for now.

On an average, Delhi is recording 20,000 cases of coronavirus every day, although the government claims that the third wave of the pandemic will not be as deadly as the second one. Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain said during a TV interview that the peak of infections is expected in one or two days. As of now, he has not advocated for a lockdown either.


GoNews had reported earlier on the adversities faced by the hospitality sector in its report during the first and second waves of the pandemic which saw closures of up to 2 lakh restaurants due to the pandemicwhich impacted the livelihoods of 30-35lakh people, as per the National Restaurant Association of India.

Before the pandemic, the restaurant industry’s total turnover was ₹4.25 lakh crore which came down to ₹25,000 crore after two waves of the pandemic. 30% of the 5 lakh operational restaurants under the association shut down during the first wave, and 10% restaurants shut down during the second wave.

This means that more than 2 lakh restaurants had to face closure due to two waves of infections in the pandemic. Prima facie, out of the 73 lakh people working in this industry, 30-35lakh lost their jobs.

In view of the above, it is likely that another round of restrictions amid the third wave of the pandemic is likely to caus further pain to this industry.

The massive tide of unemployment that followed the two waves of the pandemic has not been fully stemmed and all of those who had been rendered unemployed have not been reabsorbed into the workforce. Think tank CMIE says that during the first wave of the pandemic in 2019, the unemployment rate of the country was at 5.27%.

This increased to 7.11% during the first wave of the pandemic and further scaled up to 8% in December 2021. This means that not only the hospitality sector, but the overall workforce may have to bear the brunt of new restrictions.

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