JOHOR BARU: It is still “safety first” for food business owners here as many have opted to stick to takeaway services due to the low vaccination rate in the state.
Fifty Trees cafe owner Lor Wai Sze decided to take the safe route as she did not want to put her staff and customers at risk.
“Only two of my four staff members are fully vaccinated, and one received her first dose recently. The others have yet to receive appointments.
“The dine-in protocol is quite strict, and I want to avoid having to turn away potential customers who have not been vaccinated as this would create unnecessary problems for us,” she said when interviewed in Taman Melodies here.
Although takeaways were only enough to cover the cafe’s operational costs, Lor said she would rather wait for the vaccination rate to reach a “convincing percentage” before welcoming customers to dine in.“Right now, my main concern is everyone’s safety so that I can keep my business afloat. Profit can wait,” she added.
Similarly, Azizan Inche Harun, who operates a tom yam restaurant in Taman Saujana, said she could not open her shop for dine-ins as her workers were still waiting to receive vaccine appointments.
She was also hesitant to take on stubborn customers who might refuse to comply with the dine-in standard operating procedure.
“Previously, some customers continued smoking cigarettes in my restaurant even though it was not allowed.
“Certainly, a couple of customers who are uncooperative would get themselves and the business owners into trouble,” she said.
Azizan hoped the government could expedite the vaccination process so that her business could operate in a safe environment.
Lennox Cheok, who oversees the operations of Evergreen Restaurant in Sutera Mall, said they were waiting for all their employees, including foreign workers, to be vaccinated before considering opening for dine-ins.
“Looking at the SOP, many of us in the food and beverage industry will not be able to start dine-ins as the vaccination rate is still low.
“If there is an option for us to send our employees for vaccination through private facilities and at our own cost, such as the Public-Private Partnership Industry Covid-19 Immunisation Programme, we will definitely go for that.
“Even then, the waiting period for the vaccine to work is at least 14 days after completing two doses.
“We are looking at October at the earliest to start dine-in services,” Cheok said.
He added that like many of his fellow industry players, he was surviving on government loans and other borrowings.
Last week, the National Security Council announced that dining in had been reinstated for fully-vaccinated individuals from Aug 20, even for states under Phase One of the National Recovery Plan, provided that Covid-19 protocols were observed by both the eatery operators and customers.