Are takeaways safe?

[Dee1975]

Ok so appreciate I may have been over cautious during lockdown, I wipe everything down from the supermarket before I take it into the house, I open post and throw away the envelope straight away and wash hands. I’m pretty paranoid about any surface that ‘it’ could last on for a number of hours / days. Just doing what I can to keep my family safe ...
Since lockdown a lot of places have resorted to doing takeaway food - which is great they are doing what they can to keep running during this time. Whilst a lot of friends have been getting takeaways - im just not sure it’s safe? Someone breathing over your food whilst prepping it, the cardboard box it’s given to you in ... Etc ...
Am I being unreasonable in thinking that takeaways are just not safe?

We've had one a week to support local business. All fine.

I suspect those sitting at home paranoid screaming for lockdown to go on forever will be the same ones moaning when all their local small businesses have gone bust, the cost of pretty much everything will have gone up and they wait twice as long for all routine medical appointments

I think as far as Track & Trace is concerned a large part of the population will ignore it. Many are already pissed off at the Government's handing of this crisis.

You're right hobnobs. The vast majority of our takeaways have been from local businesses - businesses I really don't want to fold.
It's become my mission to support them 😂
Also, between working full time and homeschooling a takeaway is a god send!!

Oh yeah - price inflation will come back. Which won't be very helpful if you have just lost your job.

Hang on - post has just come. Need to put my Hazmat suit on and Fumigate it.

I am still working outside the home five days a week
I'll bloody eat takeaway as often as I want
And I'll swap with the naysayers for a day and they can come and talk to some of my exceptionally vulnerable, depressed and isolated service users and their families
And then they can come back and tell me I don't need something nice at the end of the week
All of my takeaways are from small local businesses
And they're bloody lush

We've been having takeaway from our local cafe weekly. Thankfully they've been really popular with the village and are sold out every week. They are bringing us a brunch board on Saturday, which I am super excited about!

For people who are ultra cautious, I just don’t understand how you’ll live the rest of your lives? I genuinely don’t mean that in a sarcastic way.

But everything we do/did etc up to now has had some risk of bugs being passed on. Through takeaways before this, shopping etc. Or every time you went in a pub or restaurant, visited a public toilet etc.

Believe me I’m not minimising, but the level of worrying is just so so high in some, that I wonder how they’ll start to relax/live normally?

I suspect all the
"I'm not leaving the house till it's safe" brigade
And by that I don't mean anyone who is genuinely vulnerable or shielding
Will pretty soon get bored

My Dd is working shifts takeaways have been a huge help to her especially as sometimes she can't get to a supermarket the world hasn't stopped for everybody people have to work and having the choice of a takeaway isn't the worst.

We’ve had a takeaway at least once a week since lockdown more or less started. Dominoes, local Indian takeaway, Chinese takeaway. Even went and collected restaurant food from mass collection points. I’ve also been in shops, chemists and the doctor. I don’t wipe groceries or mail/packages.
If you’re really paranoid, just use gloves, decant, re-heat and wash hands.

We've had plenty. We were just careful about bringing them in - just one of us would handle the bag, get the food out, wash hands then dish up.

I've been quarantining parcels and post but not food shopping. It's not logical, it just seems to much hassle to wash down the shopping while none of the parcels have had anything we couldn't live without for a few days.

Our post lady has had it and as she hands us a parcel she says wash your hands.

Off topic a bit, but surely your post lady shouldn't be handing parcels over? Every parcel I've received (from RM and couriers) has been put on the ground and then they've stepped back.

I do of course take this post back if you've both got arms like Stretch Armstrong.

We’ve had a couple since lockdown began. The delivery driver knocks then walks away so no contact with them. We put the food onto plates, discard the packaging then wash hands and eat. Nothing has happened so far anyway.

@SueEllenMishke

What makes you think I'm not reading the science in conjunction with the guidelines? I'm intelligent enough to do they and make an informed decision.

Far better to do that then let your hatred of a political party cloud your judgement 🤷

I was replying to your comment that I quoted!

That has never been the advice

GOVT gives the advice.

🙄🙄

I voted Tory & would do again, so your last comment is laughable

They're not doing the best job possible handling this pandemic, far from it, but Thank Fuck It wasn't JC & DA.

I hope so as weve been having loads over lockdown!

Family of four. Two keyworkers who have worked onsite throughout lockdown. One child in nursery throughout lockdown. We don't wipe down shopping or letters or deliveries. We have had loads of take always. None of us have displayed any symptoms. We do take social distancing and washing our hands seriously however.

If anything I find quarantining parcels and post even more odd than wiping down shopping. Why on earth wouldn’t you just open it, throw away the envelope or packaging and immediately wash your hands?

We’ve been having one every week, not been disinfecting it either!

We've been having one (or two) takeaways since lockdown, hence the expanding waistline but that's another thread...

We bring the bag in, empty the cartons onto the table, wash our hands and tuck in. We have to support our local businesses!

Well, they do increase your risk of being fat and broke.

Seriously, what do you even mean by "safe"? Were takeaways ever "safe"? Are your stairs "safe"? Is life in general "safe"?

I've been eating takeaways, going to shops, and I haven't quarantined or wiped down anything. Viruses and other pathogens survive and get transmitted from living system to living system, not from door handles. Detection of a small amount of their RNA on a surface is not remotely the same as that surface having the ability to infect a person. You catch Covid, like other viruses, from people.

I invite you to look at the actual quantified risk of Covid to you in comparison to some of the risks in your life you don't think twice about. You might find it interesting.

We've had several takeaways. I also don't wipe down my shopping, quarantine my parcels or any of that.

I stay home, I wash my hands, I disinfect trolleys at the supermarket door. I'm fine so far!

We’ve not had any takeaways since Lockdown started. Something we’ve found we’ve not had any shortage of is the time to cook - especially when everyone in the family can take their turn. It hasn’t led to any reduction in our waistlines but saved us some money. We had some concerns about contamination/hygiene especially in understaffed/under pressure kitchens but realise it’s a minuscule risk.

"That’s why the government hasn’t said to wipe your shopping down.

Is there a risk, yes, potentially a very very small one, that someone sneezed or coughed on it immediately before your touched it, then you touched your mouth or eyes and in some way you didn’t kill it.

It’s like billions to one chance."

Billions to one? literally plucking figures out of thin air.

OP we haven't had takeaways but some of the hygiene standards we've witnessed have been pretty grim, the likelihood is that you'd be absolutely fine.

Well I had a take away from a local kebab shop after a night out , fair wrecked my guts out the next day......

(YABU take away staff are human too and will be adhering to the rules as much as supermarket employees etc)