ALLOWING dine-ins may spark new clusters as the standard operating procedure (SOP) will be difficult to follow while eating, said epidemiologist Dr Awang Bulgiba.

He told The Malaysian Insight that not being able to put on a mask while eating and the difficulty to enforce a time limit for diners would mean customers would be more exposed to the virus.

“The lack of clusters from restaurants is probably because no dining in has been allowed so allowing dining in may then spark off clusters. So in other words this is a chicken and egg situation,” the health expert said.

“The problem with allowing dining in is the difficulty in following SOPs while eating. When eating, one cannot wear masks and people will surely take more than 5 minutes to eat. This means exposure will be lengthened as it will be very difficult to enforce a time limit for diners.”

Awang also said there is also difficulty in physical distancing.

He said if one were to measure the required 1m distance, it would be way too far for most diners to sit apart, especially in small restaurants.

“One cannot sit close together without masks for long periods of time, especially with the widespread community transmission occurring right now,” he said.

“There is the argument of the number of diners per table i.e. how many people will be allowed so pretty soon none of the guidelines will be followed.”

He added that it is also difficult to ensure adequate airflow and ventilation in a restaurant, which will ensure that disease transmission does not occur.

Awang said allowing dining in when there are many cases in the community is a very risky move because it will increase the contact rate which will then result in more new infections.

“Allowing take-away is still better than dining in,” he said.

The Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry (KPDNHEP) on Saturday said it will be submitting an application for dine-ins to be allowed during the movement-control order (MCO).

Its deputy minister Rosol Wahid said the application would be submitted to senior minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob or the National Security Council (NSC) soon.

Rosol said the application for permission to dine-in is being made for the welfare of not only food premises and food truck operators but also workers, suppliers, and wholesalers of foodstuffs, and basically anyone involved in the food industry.

He said owners of premises and food trucks had promised to comply with all SOP set by the NSC if dine-ins were allowed.

Awang’s concerns were also echoed by The Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) which said it cannot guarantee that the SOP would be strictly observed if dine-in was allowed.

Its president, Mohideen Abdul Kadir said it should not be allowed as the infectivity rate should go down further.

“Hence the directive not to dine in should remain nationwide,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Malaysian Muslim Restaurant Owners’ Association (Presma) said it has written letters to senior minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob to request for dine-in to be allowed with strict SOP.

Its president Jawahar Ali said there was an online meeting with KPDNHEP and industry players yesterday, of which they were told that the issue would be looked into.

He said the government should come with a proactive plan in favour of the public’s health including the welfare of the public.

“MCO1.0 is different from MCO 2.0 as petty traders or rather roadside stalls were given permission to trade. This has also affected our industry as people choose to buy food at the nearest available spot or nearest to their home.”

“So far our members have closed 600 outlets, therefore if dine-in is not allowed we will be doomed and back to be street vendors again. I am sad to say that some have resorted to borrowing money from illegal money lenders.”

He said because restaurants and other industries depend on each other, it is important that the government look at the broader picture.

President of the Restaurant and Bistro Owners’ Association (PPRB) William Lee said his association would also support Putrajaya’s move should it agree to allow dine-ins for restaurants.

“It is never easy to find the balance between lives and livelihood but seeing that most of the new cases are coming from specific sectors, we should pay more attention to the root cause and try to address it, instead of a blanket approach of tightening SOP where it hurts more lives and livelihood,” Lee said. 

Malaysia recorded 3,731 new Covid-19 cases, with 15 deaths yesterday. – February 8, 2021.