Coronavirus: Will you get Zomato food delivery, Swiggy?

Nagpur: Several restaurants are still operating in the city and orders have been taken with food delivered using Zomato, Swiggy and other food delivery platform gave the civil administration’s lock-out order.

To avoid the COVID-19 neighborhood outbreak, Wednesday’s civic administration pushed toward lock-down by ordering all commercial outlets and restaurants throughout the city to be closed. The steps kicked in with immediate effect after the issuance of a notification by Municipal Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe ordering the closure of all commercial establishments to remain closed until March 31.

It was not clear whether the Admin Keeping in mind people’s need to get food the administration has allowed restaurants, eateries to deliver parcel to customers or not.

District Collector Ravindra Thakre clarified the lockdown preview while talking to the media on Wednesday saying it’s meant to prevent people from assembling at one location. Therefore all rooms and restaurants allowed, restaurants included in hotels, eateries are ordered to be closed. But deliveries from Zomato, Swiggy and other food platforms that continue to operate normally because they are on the move and not in one location.

Is it really free, though?

Companies such as Zomato, Swiggy claim to have taken precautionary steps, but the question arises how secure this is when Govt asks people to avoid touch and keep social distance to flatten the curve.

“There is currently no evidence that the transmission of Covid-19 is associated with food or product packaging,” says the Product & Drug Administration on a virus-devoted website.

“It’s possible, like other viruses, that the virus that causes Covid-19 will live on surfaces or items,” says experts. That means it’s still important to wash your hands during food service transactions and avoid letting the food contact potentially infected surfaces.

Getting food delivered is the riskier choice when it comes to taking-out vs delivery, experts say. Food delivery staff are in the business of meeting strangers, and they risk “higher customer exposure”

Consider this case, a delivery boy who delivers food to a lot of people on a single day unintentionally comes into contact with a person who may be contaminated with COVID-19 when delivering the food and exchanging money or food than it does. This delivery boy is the city’s carrier of the virus that will trigger a community outbreak.

Until its too late Govt and city administrator will intervene and ban the services immediately until group transmission happens which is also named as stage 3 COVID-19.