Shanghai reopening: as restaurants restart offering dine-in services, owners say any more lockdowns will be ‘a fatal blow’
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Shop owners and employees were, however, keeping their fingers crossed and hoped that no new cases would be detected in their areas.
Shanghai allowed the city’s nearly 70,000 food industry outlets to offer dine-in services after declaring a victory over the coronavirus pandemic last weekend.
Restaurants, coffee shops and tea-houses had been offering only takeaway services since June 1, when Shanghai formally ended a two-month citywide lockdown. They can now use up to 70 per cent of their capacity to serve customers.
Thousands of residents flocked to restaurants to get a taste of their favourite food – from applewood-roasted Peking duck to Chinese noodles – on Wednesday afternoon, with some having to queue up for as long as an hour before being allowed inside.
