BUTTERWORTH (Bernama): Most of the restaurant and eatery operators in Penang are not ready to allow fully vaccinated customers to dine at their respective premises.

       A mixed-rice shop owner in Bukit Mertajam, Mohd Fauzi Abdul Halim, said he was not ready to resume the dine-in service as he was still worried over the number of positive Covid-19 cases in his area.

       According to the 50-year-old trader, he only allowed his customers to pack their food because he had not completed his second dose, which was scheduled for next month.

       "I really dare not open the shop because there are (positive Covid-19) cases here. But for me, it is better to just pack the food because it's safer, and you do not have to wash utensils,” he said when contacted by Bernama today.

       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.

       Meanwhile, a nasi kandar restaurant worker who only wanted to be known as Mustaffa said about 30 workers at the restaurant situated near Penanti here had not received their first-dose appointment dates.

       Mustaffa said his employer did not allow customers to eat on the premises because the workers had not yet completed their vaccination.

       "Now we are open for takeaway only. We will wait for instruction from the employer. I am not sure how long. Hopefully, it will be soon,” he said.

       A Bernama check around George Town found many of the eateries and restaurants located inside a shopping mall on Gurney Drive also did not allow customers to dine-in at their premises on the grounds that the workers who have not completed their vaccination. - Bernama