Tony Ramy, the head of the Syndicate of Owners of Restaurants, Cafes, Nightclubs and Patisseries on Monday voiced his objection to the attribution of responsibility for the spread of COVID-19 in Lebanon exclusively to the restaurant sector, saying that it must be assumed by the state and customers too.

Here’s what we know:

• In a statement, Ramy said that the responsibility is shared by the state, which must hold the infringing establishments accountable, alongside restaurant owners and customers. He also said that the state should “encourage businesses that respect the measures and stop those which do not respect them.”

• The Health Ministry earlier this month issued new measures aimed at curbing the coronavirus’ spread over the holiday season. Under the new measures, since Dec. 10 bars and restaurants have been prohibited from admitting customers who have not had at least a single vaccine dose or a negative PCR test result in the previous 48 hours. The committee also decided to make full vaccination mandatory for all public sector employees as well as employees in the tourism sector.

• “Either we succeed or we all fail together” in the fight against COVID-19, Ramy said.

• Following Ramy’s statement, the Tourism Ministry announced that “the Tourist Police Department has written, to date, 62 tickets against violating touristic establishments, and closed a number of them with red wax over the past week.” It added that those establishments found in violation of the COVID-19 measures were distributed across the country, as well as in the capital Beirut.

• Earlier Monday, Education Minister Abbas Halabi denounced a “relaxation” of health measures in restaurants, bars and gathering places, calling for better monitoring so that the education sector does not have to close schools.