Hotels, restaurants to not be closed till October 15, viral order not true: Govt

New Delhi: The coronavirus pandemic and the ensuing 21-day nationwide lockdown have proved to be a catalyst for all kinds of fake news and misinformation.

One such update floating around these days appears to be an alarming claim that the Tourism Ministry has asked restaurants and hotels to remain closed till October 15.

This is not correct.

The state-run Prasar Bharati News Services clarified on Wednesday that the order being cited for the claim is completely fake.

While hotels have been asked to close down unless catering to guests who were left stranded because of the lockdown, restaurants across the country have been asked to close their dine-in facilities.

Any kind of eatery, however, is allowed to operate food delivery functions as these come under essential services which have been allowed even under the current lockdown.

India, which has recorded more than 5,000 coronavirus cases and over 100 deaths, has been under a three-week lockdown since March 25, and officials say that may be extended in some hotspots.

But even when the situation normalises, restaurateurs fear that business will not bounce back in a hurry and people will socialize less in crowded restaurants.

India's $50 billion restaurant industry is already set to lose an estimated $9 billion this year, and that could force a quarter of the nation's restaurants to shut down, according to the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI).

While the food services industry across the globe is expected take a hit, the situation in India is especially grim given the large percentage of people employed in the informal economy who have no safety net or alternate income.

Restaurateurs say they are now looking to cut employment, shelve expansion plans and rework their business models to be able to cope, as sharp salary and job cuts in other sectors may set the customers' incomes back by years.

The NRAI estimates more than 1.5 million jobs will be lost in the restaurant sector amid the fallout.