KUCHING: Disallowing dining in at coffeeshops, restaurants or eateries alone will not help to flatten the curve of Covid-19 in the state.
This is the view of Kuching Coffeeshop and Restaurants Owners Association committee member Kapitan Tan Yit Sheng.
“This is because other sectors are allowed to operate and there will still be people moving around.
“At the same time, although workers can ‘tapao’ (take away), they don’t have a place to dine in.
“They will have to go back to their confined pantries in the offices which will be crowded with workers and thus, this might create another Covid-19 cluster,” he told New Sarawak Tribune on Sunday (May 16).
Tan said that the association had spoken to its members and they all felt that instead of just prohibiting dining in which caused a lot of inconveniences, the Sarawak government might as well just impose the movement control order (MCO) once and for all.
“Indeed, imposing the MCO like we did before is painful to all but it is more effective to flatten the curve. Besides, with the vaccines coming in, I feel that the cases will reduce.
“During the first MCO which the country imposed in March last year, all activities were put on hold. We could see the effect immediately and we were recognised by other countries as one of the best countries in containing this virus.
“So, Sarawak should impose its own MCO for two weeks. It will definitely flatten the curve,” he said.
Tan, who owns a coffee shop in Gala City Commercial Centre, said, “If the Sarawak government cannot impose the MCO, then it must help all eateries, especially the small coffee shops and stall owners by allocating some funds.
“The government has to come out with some assistance to help us. Otherwise, things will just get worse,” he said.
For the record, about 25 percent of more than 1,500 eateries in the city, which were struggling due to Covid-19 pandemic, had no choice but to close business last year.
