TEHRAN, Iran, June 22
Trend:
Iran's reception halls are expected to reopen after months of closure due to coronavirus spread, said the head of Tehran Reception Halls Unions.
Khosrow Ebrahimi Nia discussed the possible reopening of reception halls in an interview with Trend.
"A large number of banquet and reception halls have become bankrupt, while more than 50 percent have been closed, and the guild will face more heavy losses if there are no customers," he said. "We have ordered halls to reopen while implementing necessary health protocols."
"Reception halls should only use 50 percent of their space, the staff shall use masks and gloves, the halls shall be disinfected, and social distance shall be observed," Ebrahimi Nia added.
"Around 1,000 reception halls in Tehran have to pay high rents plus salary to their staff. The costs of these halls is from 500 million rial (about $11,000) to 2 billion rial (about $47,000) per month, and currently they have faced heavy losses," he said. "So far, the government has not provided its promised support package to reception halls for compensating the coronavirus-related economic losses," he noted.
Tehran governor Mohsen Bandpey has stated on June 20 that he is against reopening of reception halls for weddings ceremonies, although reopening restaurants that shall use 50 percent of their seats and space has been allowed.
"It has been agreed to reopen halls that only serve food without holding any ceremony since it may spread the virus," said Bandpey.
Earlier, the National Headquarters to Fight Coronavirus in Iran prohibited the reopening of reception halls due to the high risk of infection.