Collecting/ ordering take away

[PennyV13]

A couple of local restaurants have just reopened as take aways. I want to support local businesses but surely it would be deemed an unnecessary journey to pick up? (And if they deliver, it is still an additional journey and car on the road). What's the general consensus - good to support the business (after all, the government has allowed them to stay open) or irresponsible to make another journey?

I agree with @avamiah about chucking the takeaway in the bin. If, as a customer, we have concerns about the hygiene or safety of the food, surely the sensible thing is to throw it away?

Better "waste" the food than risk a coronavirus infection.

But if you buy a bottle of Fanta in the supermarket you have no idea how many people have touched it without gloves? What’s the difference?

clare but since avamiah is clearly very concerned about infection/ contamination it was a bit silly of her to order a takeaway at all since you have no idea how they prepared it in the kitchen. Did she expect it to be delivered by someone in a haz mat suit?
As a pp said gloves would not be useful unless they were carefully binned between deliveries.
I’ve had 2 takeaways and just ate them when they arrived like normal. Only difference would be that I had them delivered and had no contact with the delivery person.

I agree with @avamiah* about chucking the takeaway in the bin. If, as a customer, we have concerns about the hygiene or safety of the food, surely the sensible thing is to throw it away?
Better "waste" the food than risk a coronavirus infection.*

If you don't want someone else touching the food packaging, don't order then🤷🏻 It's just the carrier bag and the bottle the driver touched.

We don’t have traditional takeaways here as too rural but our local pubs are doing a takeaway menu and they include delivery.

I had this delivered when in isolation. We will continue to support them as we beed them to still exist when this is over!

*need

But if you buy a bottle of Fanta in the supermarket you have no idea how many people have touched it without gloves?
At least 5 and probably a mouse too

I just don't fancy takeaways. I don't see how there isn't a risk of someone infecting the cooked food while putting it in the containers.

Each to their own.

avamiah if the delivery person was washing their hands regularly between deliveries that's probably more effective than wearing gloves.
What a waste of food and money.

@Megan2018 that looks lovely!

I can't face the idea of take away right now as I'm too anxious about contamination, workers who may be infected preparing and cooking it (possibly not having much control over their working conditions and own health risks in the process), delivery drivers touching the containers etc.

I feel for the businesses and staff affected, like everyone else impacted by this awful situation, but I couldn't enjoy eating it as I need to feel in control over my food at the minute.

It was an occasional treat for us anyway so we don't miss it

@avamiah how exactly would a mask or gloves have helped ?
He would still be touching things /spreading germs on his gloves if you want to be that pedantic.
What you did was stupid and wasteful . Plastic is easy to clean so didn’t need to throw the bottle and the food would have been hot so once put on plates and hands washed would’ve been fine .
What happened to common sense ??

Last weekend I ordered a takeaway and couldn’t believe it when I watched the delivery guy drop it outside my door and he wasn’t even wearing gloves or a mask.
Yes it was in a bag but the big bottle of Fanta that they gave Free wasn’t and he had his hands all over it. ??

That's why the advice is to 'wash your hands'

It's not even difficult to understand

I’d like to order but feel embarrassed and a saddo as it’s just for me. May have to do a Miranda from Sex and the City and order as though I’m in company 😃

I'm really interested to read this thread.

We have closed our small restaurant completely and aren't doing take aways at all. We are considering opening again maybe after Easter if the lockdown continues, (which I believe it will) as otherwise I think we will really struggle to stay afloat even with the government help being offered. We could manage to do it with just me and DH and leave our 2 staff on furlough, and thought to give it a try for a couple of weeks. Our only problem is that to cut costs while we are shut we have stopped a number of non essential costs for 3 months - trade waste collection, advertising, etc, but also our chip and pin machine. I wonder if we could manage to start back up doing just take aways without restarting our card machine contract, and doing cash only, or maybe using PayPal or something along those lines without the kind of costs that Merchant Services incur.

@Thunderpunt I think you’d definitely need a means of contactless payment. Cash is not good just now. But it’s a great idea to do it; it’s nice for a treat but also great for people like the elderly trapped indoors. I’ve been sourcing places open for my elderly relatives by looking on local Facebook pages: that’s where you should advertise if you decide you can do it. Good luck, it’s a hard time for people like you

I pay for some just by bank transfer?

I’ve ordered a takeaway and will continue to have takeaways on occasion if they stay open. It isn’t 100% risk free but it’s a fairly unlikely way to catch the virus. I’m not disinfecting my shopping when I bring it home either.

I am taking the lockdown seriously. I’ve left the house twice in four weeks, both times for a trip to the supermarket to buy food. Until there is any evidence that takeaways pose a particular risk I will carry on. Social distancing is all about reducing our number of contacts with other people, a contact-free delivery one per week is no more risky than the daily exercise lots of people are going out for. We are all just doing what we can to get through the day, as long as what people are doing is within the rules then fine. Some people might decide not to have a takeaway but feel that they need to go for a walk each day. Or they might do both. No judgement from me.

I watched the corona Q and A last night that said the virus doesn't live on food so there's no need to wash your food more than you normally would like fruit and veg but it can live on the packaging for a couple of days so wash your hands after touching it and don't touch your face before you do.

You will need the card machine otherwise you will deter lots of potential clients. I know the charges are high, but I wouldn't bother with bank transfer when I can order from elsewhere where they take my card.

To the original post point. It's fine and understandable if people don't want take away because they are worried about catching it. It's ABSOLUTELY ok. What's not ok is to order and then throw it all in a bin because someone touched the outer packaging

Im in Denmark and all the restaurants are doing takeaway. Some of the country inns are taking more money now than when they were open. Theres a lot of encouragement on so.me to support businesses by ordering takeaway to keep the economy going.

We're still getting take away, had it the last 2 Saturdays. The risk of contamination is small, and it lifts our spirits. We'd probably do it twice a weekend if there was more ti choose from. But some local places have closed even for take away.

@Thunderpunt a local place near me, who normally do a small pop up in a cafe, are taking payment by bank transfer. You have to book in advance and choose from their smaller menu, then transfer the money. Only available on the weekend. They are doing it on much reduced staff so it helps them ensure they know exactly the numbers and that they can manage. They sold out of slots in a few hours, people were really keen to support and I think liked that it was such a small and controlled process.

I am most impressed with our local businesses working together and helping each other. We now have new website where we can order from independents and it's great!

People who think that wearing gloves all day long is doing anyone any favours are off their head.

Wearing gloves only helps if you change them every time you touch something! I keep seeing it, people in supermarkets touching all their shopping, then their phones, going to their cars and touching their steering wheels and handles and then taking the gloves off and driving off touching the same steering wheel or sending a text using the phone they’ve just touched with contaminated gloves.

The bottle of Fanta just needed a wipe with something antibacterial, throwing it away seems extreme.

I work on catering and our EHO prefers places to not wear gloves, he says it’s been proven that people wash their hands more often if they’re not wearing gloves.

So give the delivery driver a break..

And takeaways are allowed because they can be vital to some people. Some people have no cooking facilities. Frontline workers having to live in hotel rooms because they can’t go home.. the list goes on.

Hope everyone is keeping safe and well