Universiti Sains Malaysia’s Kumitaa Theva Das said it was best that people defer dining plans for the time being as takeaways carry a lower risk of infection.
She said restaurants wanting to offer dine-ins should first get their workers vaccinated or tested weekly for Covid-19, and ensure proper ventilation with fresh air flowing through at all times.
“Restaurant workers must be shielded from the virus as they come into contact with many customers at any one time, so vaccination for them is important,” the virologist told FMT.
Kumitaa’s comments come after confusion among eateries in Penang, with authorities stopping them from offering in-shop dining as their workers were not vaccinated.
It was then revealed that workers need not be immunised, but had to show a name list of their workers and their vaccination status.
The government has allowed dine-ins for states in Phase Two for those who have been vaccinated, while urging all to opt for takeaways over dining in.
An earlier SOP dictated that workers need not be vaccinated, while diners had to have received their second dose at least 14 days earlier.
Kumitaa said the gold standard was having restaurant workers tested daily, for early detection and isolation as was done at the recent Olympics, but that would be uneconomical.
While she lauded the current SOP for eateries to display a list of vaccinated workers for customers to make an informed decision, she said being fully vaccinated was the best bet.
“By taking a look at the list of workers vaccinated, one may ask, what would be a safe number (of vaccinated workers) for me to enter. The answer is: it’s always best to have everyone vaccinated,” she said.
Kumitaa said regardless of vaccinations, with the current Delta variant, if infected, the viral load in someone who is vaccinated is as high as an unvaccinated person.
“This means regardless if you are vaccinated or not, there is still a possibility that you may be able to transmit this virus wherever you go with this new variant. You can be a carrier without showing any typical symptoms.
“With the Delta variant, vaccines can save you from being hospitalised or worse, death, reducing the risk by 25 times compared to someone who is unvaccinated.
“It is not a good idea to dine in now as active cases are at an all-time high, hospitalisation rates are up and ICUs are full.”
Former health minister Dzulkefly Ahmad said opening up for dine-ins is “ridiculous” as the science shows that the Delta variant can still infect the vaccinated.
He said there was poor science in allowing in-restaurant dining at the moment, with unvaccinated workers posing a hazard on top of poor ventilation issues yet to be addressed.
“Contracting the disease from the restaurant, potentially from an unvaccinated worker, may result in the virus (being) taken home and spread to other people especially those who are not vaccinated, including children,” he told FMT.
Dzulkefly said when a breadwinner goes home they can infect others who are not wearing masks at home.
“The policy is irresponsible as it shows that in order to save businesses we may now sacrifice lives. It must not be the way, and the government must comprehend the concept of ‘opening safely’.
“There are so many foreigners in the food and beverage industry who are yet to be vaccinated in states which have allowed dine-ins. This just shows how the federal government has dictated policy based on populism rather than hard science and data,” he said.