Restaurant and cafe owners have responded to the ban on serving unvaccinated patrons by reducing their capacity. According to the Government order, restaurants are ordered to demand vaccine certificates or proof that the patron has overcome Covid-19, before allowing customers even in their open air areas.

But the order does not apply to restaurants and cafes that seat less than 30 people. So, starting this morning, many larger facilities announced that they will only seat 30 people, adding a call that “all are welcome”.

It’s clear that the plan is unimplementable in practice. The restaurants were left without clear instructions about what to do. They have unclear instructions about how many people they can sit. They can’t police for forged certificates, and may be forced to pay the fine for the violations done by their guests, said VMRO-DPMNE spokesman Dimitar Arsovski.