SIBU, Apr 9: Sibu Municipal Council (SMC) will decide how best eating outlets should operate three months after the movement control order (MCO) is lifted.
Chairman Clarence Ting said for both coffee shops and restaurants post-MCO, it would need to decide on four key issues.
These include whether there is a need for crowd control by restricting seating capacity; whether there is a need to implement social distancing on each table; whether food handlers need to wear gloves for food and whether all service staff are require put on face masks or face shields.
Additionally, for restaurants, he said the council would also needed to decide whether air purifiers were required in air conditioning places.
Two other issues involve the allowable number for big gatherings in restaurants, when they should be allowed and when restaurants should have their opening hours.
Separately, he advised the people not to go to the banks during peak hours.
“From my observations this week, in the mornings there are simply too many people on the street, especially around banking areas. However, the crowd seems to drop considerably in the afternoon.
“There are no restrictions for your banking needs, but I wonder why people want to crowd when they can go during the quieter times in the afternoon,” he said.
He urged the public to go to the banks when they see long queues but wait till the crowd thins.
“Yesterday (April 8) we had two positive cases, localised infected. One is from an existing cluster (Sentosa), but the other is more worrying as the source is completely unknown,” he revealed.
Altogether there are now three localised positive cases.
Ting urged the public not to take this pandemic too lightly as “it is still very much out there.”
“Stay at home. Go out when absolutely necessary and don’t go to crowded places,” he strongly advised.—DayakDaily
