Jay’s Burgers Among Other Businesses Switch to Carry Out and Deliveries Only In Wake of Coronavirus Outbreak
Those who know the Village Complex, situated in Senegambia which houses different restaurants and shops including Jay’s Burgers would know that the place is always crowded. Apart from being an eating and refreshment ground, the place also creates a social platform where many meet up to enjoy the environment.
But the novel Coronavirus case that was confirmed in The Gambia on Tuesday has already changed the setting of the restaurant and others like it. Instead of being open to the public, the burger joint is only accepting customers via telephone contacts to place their orders for carry-out or delivery.
The Gambian president, Adama Barrow, has also ordered the suspension of public gathering to prevent the spread of the virus.
“Also, realizing how vulnerable people are during public gatherings, I hereby declare that all public gatherings are suspended henceforth. This suspension includes all international and local conferences, workshops and seminars to be hosted in The Gambia.”
Omar Sarr, one of the chefs at Jay’s Burgers, told The Chronicle that the move is geared towards public safety.
“As staff of this restaurant, we are already taking risks by being here, but we have to serve our customers and that is why we came up with this new method of providing takeaway. We believe this is the best method any restaurant can adopt for the meantime. We are just praying to the almighty Allah to help us in such a situation,” Sarr said.
According to Sarr, this has slowed the business flow as customers have not been coming as usual since the outbreak.
“As you can see, we packed all the seats because most of our customers have gone back home and as a result business is slow.”
Last night, 3Chicks and a Grill, another restaurant in Senegambia but outside The Village Complex, announced on its Instagram page that it will be closing down until the end of March as a form of preventive measures against the outbreak.
Aside from The Village Complex, most restaurants on the Senegambia Strip have also closed down.
