How to safely enjoy takeaways during lockdown
Lockdown can be a challenging experience for many different reasons. It’s tough not seeing our friends and family, and we’re all missing simple pleasures like shopping, going for a pint or eating out. Luckily, there’s something we can do about the latter.
Many restaurants, though closed to the general public, are still delivering food and the good news is that it should be safe to avail of such services. The World Health Organisation believe that coronavirus cannot withstand normal cooking temperatures and there is currently no evidence to suggest that we can contract the virus from food.
However, it is still important to exercise caution. Here are three simple tips to help protect you and your family when ordering food to your home.
1. Choose no-contact pickup/delivery. This has become standard practice in the current climate but you can’t be too careful. Ask for no-contact delivery or pickup if it is not mentioned by the restaurant and when it’s time to hand over/receive the food, adhere to social distancing guidelines at all times. This is necessary to keep you and the restaurant staff safe.
2. Use your own cutlery. When you get your order, it’s a good idea to transfer it to your own plates rather than eat it out of the packaging it comes in. This will minimise the risk of contracting the virus, which could be present in germs on the plastic/paper containers that the food comes in.
3. Wash your hands. Hand-washing is the primary public health recommendation and it is naturally very important when it comes to handling deliveries that have recently been handled by someone else. Wash your hands thoroughly and regularly with soap and water for at least 20 seconds as advised by the HSE. This will hopefully stop any germs you may have picked up by touching the food packaging from making you ill.
Above all, stay safe. And bon appetit!