Restaurants to close completely following advice of public health

All restaurants, except for hotels catering facilities, will be closed from the public as from Monday, the Gibraltar Government has announced.
The Cabinet has decided, on the advice of the Director of Public Health and the acting Medical
Director of the Gibraltar Health Authority, that all catering establishments other than in hotels should shut completely.
Hotel catering establishments will be available only to hotel guests.
The facilities at Gibraltar Airport will also remain open.
All catering establishments will be free to provide meals for take-away delivery or collection. This means that restaurant kitchens only may remain open.
The government said the purpose of this measure is to ensure that elderly members of the community do not congregate in these establishments.
"The initial period of application of this measure shall be 21 days from Monday, March 16," the government said.
The government added measure will be kept under constant review.
In taking this measure, the Chief Minister Fabian Picardo consulted also with the Leader of the Opposition, Keith Azopardi, and the independent Member of Parliament, Marlene Hassan Nahon.
The Minister for Public Health, John Cortes, spoke to the President of the Chamber of Commerce and the Chairman of the Gibraltar Federation of Small Business.
"We started the process of slowing this trade down on Friday and now we need to shut it completely not just to avoid the spread of the virus but also to stop areas of congregation for the elderly members of our community," Mr Picardo said.
"We are doing this for a good reason and we are acting in good faith and on the basis of the best medical advice. We need everyone to cooperate with us to try to slow the inevitable spread of the virus so that we can best maximise the resources of the GHA to give the most vulnerable in our community the best possible care."