Whether a person has been practicing social distancing or self-quarantining, the next incoming weeks is the time to sacrifice personal wants for the greater good.
In order to flatten the curve of COVID-19 and give hospitals a chance to not overcrowd with cases, restaurants should close and not offer takeout or delivery services.
The World Health Organization (WHO) announced COVID-19 is mainly transmitted through contact with respiratory droplets, which can remain on surfaces for a period of time.
According to an article published by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on March 17, scientists from NIH, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, UCLA and Princeton University researched the longevity coronavirus 2 lasts on surfaces.
The report detects that liquid or solid droplets, known as aerosols, can remain on cardboard surfaces for up to 24 hours and on plastic for up to two to three days.
If a person orders pizza for takeout or delivery, there is a risk of possible infection if anyone sneezed or coughed near the delivery box. Even with a simple touch of the package, that exposure remains.
Restaurants that are currently still operating take precautionary measures, but WHO reports that cases of virus transmissions occur most in community settings. Food establishments are community settings.
By keeping restaurants open, customers and employees become endangered.
On April 5, McDonald’s employees at a Los Angeles location demonstrated a walk out protest because a coworker was diagnosed with COVID-19 and management had not shared that information, according to a Newseek article.
Employees also said management had not given them protective masks or gear to use while working.
In worst case scenarios, this could be happening in multiple restaurants, further risking the health of essential workers and customers.
Self quarantining isn’t an ideal situation to be in, but it’s necessary to lessen the cases of people infected with COVID-19. That’s why it’s imperative that restaurants close along with the options for takeout and delivery. I’m sure we can all live without takeout food for a while and, with gyms being closed and people generally exercising less, we should probably be sticking to a COVID diet program that definitely won’t include takeout food anyway.