Allow people to safely enjoy eating at hawker centres, "site visit" for policy makers

Dear policy makers, do you actually eat at hawker centres regularly? I am asking because I am not sure that the policies you have implemented are not actually increasing the risk of Covid 19 spreading.

Unless, of course, that is precisely the plan, if we all develop antibodies to various variants, then covid19 would be truly endemic. And I am ok with this, just would appreciate some transparency.

Let me explain my argument:

1             Pack your own tray at hawker centres

I have argued against this as being something that will cost the people who are working at clearing tables at hawker centres their jobs. Yes, the workload is lower, but this means that fewer people are required for the same hawker centre.

Now I look at things from the covid19 angle.

In the past, after eating, people would leave their used crockery on the tables, sometimes with unconsumed food such as prawn shells, bones… (I personally agree this should be heavily discouraged). The cleaner would come, collect the crockery for washing, clean the table, and make it ready for the next consumer.

Now, assume that a person who ate at this table was covid contagious. The table is likely to have the virus.

When the cleaner comes, if the cleaner is properly equipped – gloves, mask (may be face shield) and disinfectant, the plates are put in the container, the table disinfected. Being more protected that the average consumer, the risk of infection to the cleaner are not terribly high.

However, under current rules, the consumer himself/herself clears the table and carries the crockery with left-overs via a tray to a collection point. The cleaners take the trays, throw the left overs, and put the plates and cutlery to wash as per usual. The risk to the cleaners does not increase by much.

But, all other consumers also visit the tray clearing area. During peak hours, these areas are packed, it is not really possible to maintain the 1m social distance. Add to this the fact that the trays are stacked, many more consumers risk getting close to crockery under this scheme.

Add to this the fact that well equipped cleaners do a much better job at cleaning the tables compared to the average consumer who at most used a wet tissue, it can be argued that even at the tables, the old system ensured more cleanliness and lower risk of infection to the next diner.

Yes, I am fully aware that, in the past there were cases of tables remaining uncleared for a while, but think about it. If the table has not been cleared, chances are you would either not go to that table, or if you cleared it, you would be much more careful, compared to an apparently clean table.

I think that the issue is the necessity to equip the cleaners, like all front-liners, with proper equipment and training on how to use the equipment. I am sure their work would be better appreciated than before.

 

2             Maximum number of people per table = 2

Again, don’t get me wrong, I personally enjoy this rule because 2 is my preferred maximum number of people at a table. However, I am in the minority. Most people, even families, are made up of more than 2 people. So what do you think people will do?

Add to this the culture of sharing food in Singapore. One of the great joys of eating at hawker centres with friends is that you get to order more dishes and enjoy a little bit of each. Do you think people will stop sharing food? Sure, the serving spoon has appeared, but is that all?

(I don’t really go to hawker centres in office areas – I wfh – so my view is limited to families)

What families do is simple. First, they try to get contiguous tables. Then they still talk to each other, but this time across tables. This means:

-        Higher volume which likely means higher droplets expelled

-        The projectiles, instead of being limited to the table, now cut across tables, into passageways.

Next they will walk across the tables, exchanging dishes. Very often this is done without wearing a mask.

Hence, to me, unless the rules are tightened to disallow ‘mixing’ of tables as in restaurants (which I really do not favour, imagine enforcement costs), it makes sense, from a point-of-view to allow more people to sit together, and only, as previously, allow people from the same household to sit together.

 

3             Barricaded Hawker centres

In order to ensure that everyone who visits a hawker centre does get tagged by the TraceTogether system, the hawker centres have been wrapped up with netted barriers and only a couple of entry points are allowed, where the tagging with TraceTogether is verified.

What this leads to is a tight entry point, even assuming social distancing is respected, given the funnel effect, the flow of people is slowed, and people spend more time in a specific area than if there was no funnel.

Furthermore, especially in the case of take away, people used to wait outside the hawker centre for their order to be ready, just to allow others to order. Now all these people cannot leave the hawker centre, increasing crowding. Add to this the fact that hawker centres, while classified as outdoor, have very varied ventilation. Some, even in pre-covid days, were quite stuffy.

So what should be done differently?

The answer is simple, beacons. TraceTogether works via Bluetooth technology. Instead of bringing people to the Bluetooth device, why not place multiple Bluetooth devices at the hawker centres? Bluetooth devices are not that expensive…

 

Conclusion

In sum, I think things could be done better by maximising use of educating and training people to risks, revising some of the rules to allow better flow and allocation of people to minimise risks, providing proper equipment (to cleaners and blue tooth beacons). The old People, Process, Technology strikes again.