Trishaw riders not taking chances with rise in Covid-19 cases

Health and safety first: Phang cleaning his trishaw before carrying passengers at Armenian Street in George Town. — LIM BENG TATT/The Star

GEORGE TOWN: It is the holiday season and trishaw services are usually in demand during this period.

But with rising Covid-19 cases, most trishaw riders are not taking any chances and are wearing masks as well as self-testing regularly.

Rozaini Basharudin said they feared another movement control order if the situation did not improve in the coming months.

“Although our income is still okay, another MCO would be a big blow to our rice bowl – movement restrictions means no income,” he said yesterday.

Rozaini added that in the past few weeks during the holiday period, they could make up to 15 trips daily, ferrying cruise ship passengers around the heritage enclave.

“But the number has come down to between five and seven trips daily.

“The rising number of Covid-19 cases has seen many travellers distancing themselves from one another during their walkabouts and many are not taking trishaw rides,” he said.

Another trishaw rider, Salam Phang, said he has been taking the Covid-19 self-test once very three days to keep himself and his passengers safe.

“Early detection is the best I can do while trying to earn a living. We are seeing fewer tourists these days due to the increasing Covid-19 cases.”

Phang said he would not put on a face mask to avoid creating a sense of unease among holidaymakers.

“Normally, I won’t put on a face mask but if my passengers wear them, then I will too.

“There are about 400 trishaw pedallers in Penang, and I hope all of them will be responsible for the safety of their customers,” he said.

According to the KKMNow portal as of Dec 23, Penang recorded 1,995 new cases in the past two weeks, with 123 of the patients admitted to hospital and three deaths.

Selangor recorded the highest number of cases at 14,637, followed by Kuala Lumpur (7,302), Johor (3,096), Melaka (2,862) and Kedah (2,361).

On Dec 18, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said the government would not re-impose the MCO despite the spike in Covid-19 cases nationwide.

However, he urged the people to increase their vigilance and said the ministry has a five-point strategy to deal with the increase in the number of Covid-19 cases.

These include early case detection via the Heightened Alert System (HAS), community tracing via TRIIS (test, report, isolate, inform and seek treatment), monitoring of health facilities, effective risk communication and digitisation of the health system via the MySejahtera app.