KOTA KINABALU, Aug 10 ― While fully-vaccinated residents in other Phase Two states look forward to dining in from today, eateries in Sabah ― where dine-in was already allowed since end-June ― are feeling a bit ambivalent about it all.

Restaurants and coffee shop owners in the state capital agree that the decision is sound and logical, but may not be economically conducive in Sabah where the vaccination rate is still fairly low.

"Aiyah, I know it’s for our own safety because cases are so high now but it won’t be easy to do. At first they said can dine-in, then KL said cannot, then Sabah said can, so then slowly people started coming out again.

"Now say only vaccinated people can, what do we tell our regular customers who haven’t gotten both doses?” said a coffee shop owner in Penampang.

"Yes, it’s the rule but having to deal with customers and tell them, ‘you can’t eat here now’ will make people unhappy. And we are already suffering from slower business as it is with the current SOP of two per table only,” he said, referring to the standard operating procedure.

The decision to allow dine-in for states in Phase Two and above of the National Recovery Plan (NRP) was announced last Sunday by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, but the Sabah government has allowed eateries to set up tables and chairs for diners as of June 29, despite objections by the federal government.

Eateries here have since been allowed to operate from 6am to 10pm, with only two people allowed per table.

However, Covid-19 cases in the state have been hitting record-breaking numbers with no district spared, and community cases have also increased in the last month.

Many popular restaurants and cafes in the state capital have reported cases of Covid-19 and were forced to shut down temporarily or run disinfection exercises.

A popular fish soup restaurant owner, Balaguruparan Ganesamoorthy, said that his shop, Fish Guru, was ready to comply with whatever rules imposed even though he did not think it would be a permanent solution.

"It’s all just temporary measures now, even the vaccinations. Now they require two doses to be considered fully vaccinated, but it might soon be three doses for Pfizer, or more, who knows? So that’s why even the vaccination is a temporary solution.

"To me, as long as we maintain distance, take care of our own hygiene and wear masks, we are doing all we can. This move (to allow only vaccinated people) is what all countries are practicing so it is the new norm and we have to learn to change our mindsets and live with it,” said Guru, as he is popularly known.

He added that business has been bad, even after dine-in was allowed, as public confidence has been rocked following an uptick in cases of Covid-19.

"In my business I’m not getting any assistance from the government, so I have to struggle on my own... whatever I put in is from my hard earned savings, so we are struggling to survive,” he said, adding that it was an ongoing effort to promote his business while keeping the staff safe.

Western and fusion cafe El Centro owner Katie King said she was also happy to comply with the ruling, but the state ought to consider that the vaccination rate in Sabah is low.

"It would be a large setback for us. So I think it needs to be phased in, so we need to give people a chance to get vaccinated first.

"It’s also a challenge because nobody who works at El Centro will have their second dose till the end of August. We just got our first doses last week,” she said.

As SOPs have yet to be announced, King said operators are still unsure of how to proceed, although most are just going about their usual routine until there is official news.

"But I think we’d be prepared. We might have to close for two weeks and I wouldn’t be surprised if certain customers don’t like it but I don’t think it’s a bad idea to require people to be fully vaccinated. But they need to think of an easement into it,” she said.

As of August 8, 463,469 people in Sabah have been fully vaccinated, and about 16 per cent of the 2.9 million people living in the state are expected to be by year end. The state has also recently been ramping up their vaccination programme, with over 40,000 jabs given out per day in August.

As of yesterday, Sabah Covid-19 spokesman Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun said that the state Covid-19 disaster management committee will discuss whether to abide by the announcement, continue with current SOPs or otherwise.

"We will take into consideration that our vaccination rate is still low and Sabah is currently experiencing a huge spike in new cases,” he said.

The state yesterday recorded its highest number of new Covid 19 cases yet ― 1,379 cases. It has been registering four-digit cases in the last week.