Eatery owners refuse to take risks, postpone dine-ins

KOTA BHARU, Aug 10 -- Eatery owners in the state have opted to disallow dine-ins because they are not willing to take the risk of causing the spread of new COVID-19 cases at their premises.

A Bernama check today found some eateries and restaurant owners including cafes still did not allow fully vaccinated customers to dine in although they are allowed to do so from today.

Lieniey Nasi Kerabu Tumis owner Zaini Ahmad, 51, said he did not allow dine-ins at his eatery because the daily COVID-19 cases in the state were still high and unsettling.

“Although permission has been given to eat at restaurants, I opt to put it off first because I feel the current situation is still not suitable yet for the relaxation.

“My workers have not received the COVID-19 vaccine injections. This makes me reluctant to take the risk as this might spread the virus outbreak at my premises,” he told Bernama here, today.

Meanwhile, Kafe Drum & Desk manager Chew Li Mun, 30, said the cafe planned to allow dine-in from next month.

She admitted that business was down by over 50 per cent when dine-ins were not allowed but her safety was a top priority. 

“It is okay to suffer a bit of loss because safety and good health must be prioritised. Currently, sale depends a lot on walk-ins as well as orders via a food delivery application.

“I plan to allow dine-in from September after my 12 workers completed their two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine,” she said.

Checks found that some café owners in Kota Bharu have placed the ‘dineincanwait’ hashtag on their Instagram posts to inform their followers of the postponement.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced that fully vaccinated individuals in states under phase two of the National Recovery Plan are allowed to dine at food outlets.

-- BERNAMA