Do you consider getting a takeaway risky?

[Frombeantocupyoufup]

Just wondered. Mentioned to friend on WhatsApp that we are treating ourselves to a takeaway from a local restaurant with dessert etc for DH’s birthday this weekend and she was shocked that we would risk it with the infection rate so high where we are.

I hadn’t considered that it could be spreading via takeaway food etc - surely they have to take precautions?

And no, I'm not making it up. Every interaction carries a degree of risk, however large or small (and I totally agree that takeaways are a small risk). That's why we're being asked to stay at home as much as humanly possible during lockdown, to put the brakes on the spread as quickly as possible. It's not really a very complicated message. I'm not having a go at anyone who's ever had a takeaway. I'm just a bit cross about people who are doing the maximum possible within the rules because 'they're not worried about Covid'.

Often yes. That is why I always check out the food hygiene ratings. Some takeaways food standards are far more likely to kill you than any virus.

Well Feline Coronavirus is a standard test for commercial detergents and sanitisers ( not suggesting any risk from your cats, it's just a nice, standard test and no reason to believe this coronavirus is any more resistant) and other coronaviruses are destroyed at around 60C for 10 mins ( time and temperature combinations vary, so a stir fry for 5 minutes, for example, at, say 90C is way in excess of what is required).
Plus, you do realise that the food you buyin supermarkets, or have delivered, has been handled in factories, logistics hubs and shops?

I'd be far more worried about food poisoning or Norovirus than COVID! We've had a takeaway once or twice a week throughout and we've not had it yet

Oh, and no, they don't do contactless takeaways here. I live in the middle of nowhere, so takeaways all involve going into a shop or to a van to pick something up - nobody delivers.

What a joyless life your friend leads.
I'm sure the Covid to Curry transmission rates are low!

I see it as my civic duty to help support local businesses. We pay before delivery and they will do contact free delivery so the risk is minimal. I don’t lick the packaging.

Now I really want Thai food.

No

No, I don't see it as risky. It's hot food, and it gets plated up on arrival. Hands are washed after moving it from container to plate.

No

Not the food, just the packaging.

Yes it is a small risk, every time you leave the house/buy food anywhere/touch anything/be next to someone who breathes there is a (small) risk

It all depends how fearful you are. I take these risks willingly as I am not prepared to live in my house 24/7 , terrified of the outside world, for years. So I go to the shops every now and then, and get a takeaway once in a while (am not exactly raving at mega parties )

Others make different choices for different reasons

Takeaways are one of the few enjoyments available at the moment. I really don't see them as risky and if anything see them as having a positive impact on the local economy (if not my waistline)

I don't do all the washing down and immediate disposal of packaging

Low risk I think.
We get a takeaway once a week or so, to have a break from cooking, and usually choose between a couple of local restaurants we like to support.
We remove the food from it's packaging and serve on plates, wash hands, then eat using our own cutlery.

@inkandpen

Oh, and no, they don't do contactless takeaways here. I live in the middle of nowhere, so takeaways all involve going into a shop or to a van to pick something up - nobody delivers.

Just because you can't have contact free delivery doesn't mean no one else should! We should be supporting local businesses wherever we can, covid isn't the only risk at the moment, look at the bigger picture now and again

We consider it our patriotic duty to eat a takeaway once a week in order to support small independent local businesses and contribute to the economy. Risks are extremely low. Food is delicious. Of course among the people who are quarantining their post and parcels for 3 days before opening them, the idea of touching food containers that other human hands have touched less than 20 minutes ago must seem reckless but there is no evidence of transmission via such vectors.

We've had one s week throughout.
Initially obese nervous about the packaging and decanted everything but the more I thought about it the less of a risk I felt it was (so even if you touch a contaminated carton, you'd have to touch your eyes/nose/mouth to catch it. So there is a risk but extremely low I feel. Lower than supermarket shopping for sure.

No

No. Your friend is being dramatic.

What is the specific risk of takeaway.

Collecting is a risk, the waiting or talking to the person handing them over, breath aerosol issue?

A chef has covid and prepares your food and sneezes over it, maybe sweats into it.

However if you microwave it anyway at home wouldn't that kill covid?

The packaging could have covid on it, the packs the bag. One could carefully decant all that wearing gloves and dispose?.
Where is the greatest risk, in that chain, I'm sure ingesting covid was OK?

No, but I've got Covid at the mo and I'm worried the delivery driver might catch it from me! So I stuck a note on my door explaining and asking them to knock and then retreat. Same for the Tesco delivery.

[quote RMarieClaire]@TableFlowerss - with you. Tell myself I need to support local restaurants and can easily convince myself two a week is totally fine [/quote]
Quite right! Literally nothing else to look forward to. Crispy shredded beef and salt and pepper chicken! 😋

I suppose there is a small risk, but it hasn't stopped us getting takeways. I see it as a win-win situation: a small business gets some custom, and we get to eat nice food at a time when we can't go to restaurants.

We havent had one since March but we dont have them very often anyway, so we just havent bothered although not a huge increase in risk we feel its a risk we dont need to take

Fomite (surfaces) spread is vanishingly low. They now believe that many of the virus particles found in the initial tests of surfaced were either dead or so few in number that they would have been incapable of causing illness.

Of course, it is hypothetically possible to get COVID from your weekly Chinese, but really not worth worrying about.