GEORGE TOWN: While the fully vaccinated may rejoice at the thought of dining in with the King of Fruits, durian sellers here are sticking to providing takeaways with the season nearing its end.

       In Medan Mahsuri, a durian seller and supplier who wanted to be known only as Ah Heng, 30, said she was not keen on allowing dine-ins as her workers had only received their first vaccine jabs.

       “The season is coming to an end in two weeks. But even if all my staff are fully inoculated, I think it is better for us to continue with deliveries and takeaways as we are still able to sustain this way without any risks.

       “We are a tight family and we have to take care of ourselves,” she said when met here recently.

       In Paya Terubong, durian farm owner and supplier Tan Chee Wei, 38, said there were no plans to allow customers to dine in although they were able to supply durians in sparse numbers until the end of the year.

       “Throughout last year, we stuck to takeaways.

       “The cases are far worse this year, so I do not think we are considering serving dine-ins.

       “As we will be seeing a sparse durian supply from September onwards, there is no point in providing dine-ins.

       “People can just buy and bring the durians home to enjoy,” he added.

       Tan said hygiene issues and difficulties in maintaining a clean environment in-store were among the concerns faced by durian sellers.

       “We eat durians using ours hands and after we finish eating, the durian seeds will usually have traces of our saliva.

       “This would be a risk to our staffers who have to clean up afterwards. They would have to clean the tables and also dispose of the husks and durian seeds,” he said.

       “It is better for us to completely close for dine-ins and stick to takeaways,” he added.