The Township Development Committee in Maungdaw, Arakan State, issued a letter on July 2 instructing restaurant and tea shop owners to limit service to takeaway orders only to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Due to the increasing Covid-19 case count in Maungdaw District, the township-level Covid-19 Control and Emergency Response Committee ordered restaurants not to offer customers the dine-in option until further notice.

“Restaurants must sell on a parcel [takeaway] basis. Failure to comply will result in disciplinary action. In any case, the key is to control the spread of the disease,” said U Maung Aye Thein, assistant director of the Township Development Committee office.

Ko Thar Tu Chay, an owner of The Trees restaurant in Maungdaw, said he was forced to sign a bond at the direction of the Township Development Committee.

Although shops are not closed in Maungdaw, staffing should be reduced if there are fewer customers in restaurants, he said.

“All morning, no customers came to our shop. We will have to wait until the evening. If the sales are not good, we have to reduce the staff. Even now, my employees are being told to wait and not to return home,” he said.

Nokia teashop owner Ma Pan Ei San said the previous, second wave of Covid-19 had forced the shop to close, and that it would be difficult to make ends meet if they had to close again.

“The customers are not coming to the shop as much as they used to,” she said. “There are some customers who buy with the parcel system. We only sell food on a takeaway basis so some customers come and go without buying. There are people who like to sit in a tea shop for a drink.”

As of July 2, there were more than 200 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Maungdaw District.