Prime minister: Restrictions will not necessarily be valid until January 10

R14 restaurant in the Rotermanni quarter.
R14 restaurant in the Rotermanni quarter. Source: Marek Metslaid

Prime Minister Kaja Kallas (Reform) said restrictions are being specified every two weeks and the 11 p.m. closing time restrictions for events and establishments might not have to be imposed until January 10, its original end date.

Anatoli Rjabov, manager of the R14 restaurant in the Rotermanni quarter of Tallinn, said they constantly go over the information about restrictions and if something is confusing, they call the Health Board to be sure. Rjabov said there have been periods where there is a lot of information about restrictions, but the rules remained confusing.

"Unfortunately, the information changed so fast from time to time that they even changed the wording a few times a week," the restaurant manager said.

He would like to see the coronavirus restrictions be more specific and understandable. "Simple, specific - these people can, these people cannot. What is a closed event, what is a public event and so on," Rjabov said.

Restaurants have not yet made plans for New Year's celebrations, because a recent government order forbids events to go on after 11 p.m. Prime Minister Kaja Kallas (Reform) said the government order, which states that events must end before 11 p.m. will not necessarily be valid until January 10, its original end date.

"When it comes to evening times, it is a restriction that we go over every two weeks. If the situation improves, the virus goes down, then we can ease restrictions. That is why the 11 p.m. restriction is not connected to January 10," the prime minister said.

Kallas said that while coronavirus spread has slowed some, it is not yet clear if it will continue. If the spread of the coronavirus decreases further, the government will go over the restrictions again.

"Our decisions are based on two things. First is keeping society open and second is motivating people to get vaccinated. That is how we have made our decisions. We truly want everything to remain as open as it is and for people to be able to go places, but they also need to get vaccinated to protect themselves and others," the prime minister said.

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Editor: Kristjan Kallaste

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