KUALA LUMPUR, March 17 — Malaysians will have to temporarily close non-essential businesses and stores during a two-week period starting from tomorrow, but two companies providing food delivery services have said they will continue to provide services.
Grab, which also provides e-hailing services, said it will continue to operate its various delivery services under GrabFood (for food) and under GrabMart (for daily essentials such as dry food and healthcare products).
“With regards to the recent announcement by our Prime Minister’s message on Covid-19, we would like to assure you that ALL our services — GrabFood, GrabMart, Transport and GrabExpress — will continue to operate as usual. We remain committed to serving and supporting all our drivers, delivery partners, merchant partners, passengers and staffs as we go through this tough time together as a nation.
“Rest assured, we will continue to keep you updated with any further developments. So do stay tuned,” it wrote earlier today in a Facebook post.
In a separate Facebook post, delivery company dahmakan wrote a simple note saying “dahmakan will continue to be operational and deliver safe and hygienic food. Stay safe. Stay indoors”.
Another popular food delivery company, Foodpanda, has yet to make an announcement on Facebook at the time of writing.
It is unclear for now if restaurants and food outlets will be allowed to continue operating during the two-week period from March 18 to March 31, as illustrated by food outlet myBurgerLab’s Facebook post where it informed customers that it will only provide food for delivery and takeaway during this period if it is allowed to do so under the government order.
While urging customers not to engage in panic buying as supermarkets will stay open during the two-week period, myBurgerLab told its customers that it expects more details on the two-week order: “More info to come in the following days as we get updated. We’re quite sure there’ll be new announcements.”
Last night, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced a government order effective from tomorrow that would require Malaysians to stop all public gatherings and shut down any non-essential businesses and stores, with only places selling daily necessities and essential services such as transportation, food supply, health, pharmacies, banking and utilities allowed to continue operations.
Cinemas to suspend operations
Shortly after Muhyiddin’s announcement last night, major cinema chain Golden Screen Cinemas (GSC) announced on Facebook that it would temporarily close its cinemas and suspend all screenings and events from March 18 to March 31.
“This is in line with the precautionary measures by the Malaysian government to mitigate the spread of the Covid-19 virus and safeguard the health of our communities,” it said.
GSC said its customers will be refunded for tickets already bought, with online purchases to be automatically refunded in 14 days, while those who had bought movie tickets over the counter or at its self-service kiosks were told they can hold on to the tickets and get their refunds after the end of the two-week period.
“Your health and safety remains our top priority during this time and we thank you for your support and patience as we work together to stem the spread of Covid-19,” it added, after having said that it is closely monitoring this rapidly evolving situation and would continue to provide further updates in the coming weeks.
TGV Cinemas in a separate Facebook post wrote a similar note to its movie-goers to inform of its temporary closure and suspension of operations during the two-week period.
It also said full refunds would be provided for movie tickets already bought in advance, saying that online purchases will be refunded “as soon as practically possible” while those who purchased physically were “required” to hold on to their tickets for refunds after the end of the two weeks.
“Your well-being and safety will always be our number one priority. In the meantime, stay healthy and protected; and let’s work together towards the prevention of Covid-19,” TGV added.
MBO Cinemas, which had on March 14 introduced a “social distance seating” system for moviegoers with gaps between alternate rows and every two seats, has yet to announce suspension of operations at the time of writing.
Even before this two-week order was announced, the government had previously already urged for the postponement of mass gatherings, and had already advised Malaysians to practice social distancing or staying at least one metre apart from each other to help slow the spread of Covid-19.
