No dine-in at Junction 8 food court after patrons flout Covid-19 rules

Stall owners at local food court chain Food Junction are lamenting a loss of business at its Bishan Junction 8 outlet after dining-in is suspended until Dec 13.

According to Shin Min Daily News last Sunday (Dec 5), the 10-day suspension is due to multiple instances of patrons not observing the one metre Covid-19 social distancing rule.

Speaking to the Chinese evening daily, a stall vendor, who declined to be named, said: "This is not the first time it (diners flouting the Covid-19 safety rules) has happened. The dining-in suspension is also causing a 30 to 50 per cent decline in business."

Another stall vendor pointed out that the main footfall comes from people shopping inside the mall. He observed that once patrons realise that they are only able to dine-in from Dec 14 onwards, they would not enter the food court.

According to Covid-19 safe distancing rules by the Ministry of Health, hawker centres and food courts are allowed to have diners in groups of five only if they have implemented vaccination checks.

Those that are unable to do so can only have fully vaccinated diners in groups of up to two.

READ ALSO: Households of 5 allowed to dine at F&B outlets from Nov 10

chingshijie@asiaone.com