MUKAH: After Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyddin Yassin’s announcement that the movement control order (MCO) would be implemented throughout the country from May 12 to June 7, the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) decided to proceed with its conditional movement control order (CMCO) throughout the state.
Under this new order, dine-ins at restaurants, food outlets, bistros, cafes, food and beverage stalls are prohibited, and only takeaways, drive-throughs or food deliveries are allowed.
A recent survey by Suara Sarawak found that all eateries here had complied fully with the directive.
Apart from providing temperature scanners, MySejahtera QR codes as well as log books in front of their shops, traders were also found arranging their tables and chairs to give space for customers to line up.
Nawab Kafe owner Muhammad Basir Nawab Deen, 41, said although dine-in was not allowed, he was thankful that his cafe was still accepting food orders as usual, especially during peak times.
Another restaurant owner Fatimah Narawi said since dine-in was not allowed, her business had suffered.
“In my opinion, it was because customers were no longer allowed to dine-in at eateries.
“Besides that, I also had to stop my catering service for a while as we know that social gatherings are prohibited.
“As one of the traders affected, I cannot blame the government 100 percent for implementing such a directive. I believe it is the best way for us to stop the Covid-19 virus from spreading further,” said the Fatma Cafe owner.
On customers who came for takeaways, the 57-year-old said all of them complied with the standard operating procedures (SOPs) that had been set including wearing a face mask, checking body temperature as well as scanning the MySejahtera code.
For Majidah Hanafi, 64, and Suari Hanafi, 67, who runs a food business at the Dalat and Mukah District Council food court, since dine-in was no longer allowed, the number of customers who come to their premises have significantly decreased.
“Although our business is affected, we strongly urge the people to strictly adhere to the SOPs set and just stay at home if there is no important business to be done.
“Together we follow the SOPs so that this deadly virus can be stopped immediately and we can live a normal life like before,” said Majidah.
