(Yicai Global) Dec. 16 -- China’s eat-in restaurant business is floundering as people continue to stay home as although a recent easing of pandemic prevention measures means that diners no longer need to show their health codes or negative Covid-19 tests in restaurants, cases are surging.

Footfall at one restaurant chain’s outlets in Beijing and Guangzhou in southern Guangdong province has decreased in the last week, a company insider told Yicai Global. When the rules were first relaxed, the number of diners at its Guangzhou restaurant improved slightly, but since then numbers have been on the wane.

Recent visits and surveys have shown that the easing of Covid-19 prevention measures has not boosted the restaurant sector, the vice president of the Guangdong Food Safety and Security Promotion Association told Yicai Global. Rather, people feel less safe and are dining out less frequently.

Business has been much worse since the restrictions were eased, the owner of a restaurant in Shanghai’s downtown Xuhui district said. And it has become worse since last week. People are afraid of being infected. I am guessing the situation will improve after the Chinese New Year holiday next month, he added.

Eat-ins at some of Xibei Catering Group’s outlets in Guangzhou and Beijing are now half what they were during peak times.

Also, a number of staff have been infected, despite the company’s own prevention measures, so it is hard to arrange shifts, the insider at the first-mentioned restaurant chain said.

However, take-outs continue to do well. Xibei’s meal delivery business is up 20 percent. The firm’s online sales have improved noticeably since it launched a children’s menu in November. While the first restaurant chains’ take-out business in Beijing is performing OK, and that in Guangzhou has dipped slightly from last month, the insider said.

Should those infected in this first wave after the relaxation of restrictions recover fast, then the restaurant business might improve around Jan. 15, the association vice president added.

Editors: Shi Yi, Kim Taylor