MALAYSIA is now on the cusp of a second wave of Covid-19 infections, with restaurants emerging as new clusters where people supposedly under home surveillance orders (HSO) break their quarantine to have a meal in public.

Restaurateurs told The Malaysian Insight this seems to have rattled some customers, leading to a 10%-15% reduction in business in the past 10 days after Covid-19 cases from a restaurant in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur, were first announced.

They said while they are doing their best to follow procedures set by the authorities, they have no way of stopping those who knowingly flout quarantine orders.

Malaysia Singapore Coffeeshop Proprietors’ General Association president Ho Su Mon said some traditional coffee shops have faced the same issues in the past month, especially in Kuala Lumpur and Johor Baru.

“For the safety of other customers, operators will refuse entry to such people but if they insist on entering, then what can we do?

“We hope the government can prepare comprehensive procedures to handle such issues as we have already suffered losses of about 10% to 15%,” he said.

The Brickfields restaurant cluster, announced on July 19, involved two Indian nationals who tested positive for Covid-19.

Another eatery cluster is the PUI (patient under investigation) Sivagangga cluster in Kedah, which began when the restaurant owner broke his home quarantine order after returning to Malaysia from India on July 13.

He initially tested negative at the entry point screening at the airport but tested positive a few days later.

The photo of a woman in Perak eating in public with the quarantine order pink wristband on the arm has also gone viral on social media recently, sparking uproar.

The woman, who recently returned from overseas, was cleared of Covid-19 in her first screening but then tested positive in the second round. She was hospitalised along with her son to undergo treatment on July 17.

Ho said restauranteurs will not dare take Covid-19 SOPs lightly as they risk action from enforcement authorities.

“The association also reminds members to adhere to the SOPs.

“Yet, some smaller shops do not have the manpower, so they only leave a record book for customers to write down their details upon entry.

“If customers intentionally give the wrong info, then it becomes a huge issue for operators,” he said.

Ho said since the recovery movement-control order (RMCO) began on June 10, traditional coffee shops had to reduce the number of tables and seats to ensure social distancing.

Pan Malaysia Koo Soo Restaurants and Chefs Association president Wong Teu Hoon said due to the lack of foreign tourists, large Chinese restaurants’ business only started to recover during the RMCO to about 65%-70% of normal business.

“If a second wave of infections come, we don’t think we can survive this,” Wong said.

Since the RMCO began on June 10, some businesses are becoming complacent about Covid-19 SOPs, he said.

Ho welcomed the government’s decision to make wearing a mask mandatory in public places starting from August 1 (tomorrow).

“The issue is not only with operators but also unreasonable customers. For example, it was clearly stated that a certain table can only accommodate six, some customers are stubborn and want to seat seven,” Wong said.

Those who flouted home quarantine to have meals outside will undoubtedly affect business as people will become more cautious about eating out, he said.

“These people are being selfish, they are not supposed to eat outside when under quarantine. As business owners, we can only do our best and make sure none of them manage to sneak in.”

Wong and Ho both agreed with the government’s policy to send those entering the country into mandatory quarantine at designated centres.

After pictures of several people violating home quarantine to eat at restaurants circulated on social media, Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said on July 21 that from July 24, everyone entering the country was subject to mandatory quarantine. – July 31, 2020.