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Comment by martinald | Hacker News Reader

The problem isn't that, it's making the food itself in mcdonalds is too risky in terms of infection. You have loads of people in a small space.

Nearly all restaurant kitchens of all types are like this; so I really can't see how any takeout services can operate safely. Maybe very low volume ones with one chef and one person giving out the food. But not sure how possible that is, I assume many require someone preparing food as well as cooking it.

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I don’t think it’s a matter of finding something 0-risk as much as it is reducing risk as much as possible. And I think drive through with 0 contact between patrons and employees helps with that.

I’ve been in crowds just two times in the past couple weeks, both were at grocery stores.

Doesn't this risk exist with all types of food factory?

What about fresh produce sitting on store shelves, where people can touch and breath on it?

(I say this while eating a hotdog I just got from 7-11)

We’re still buying fresh produce because there’s plenty of it and we don’t have a ton of space to store frozen/canned food. I’ve been washing produce with soap and water for 20 seconds and then rinsing it before eating it. We also roast most of our vegetables so the risk seems small, to me.

I am debating Ordering a pizza right now and I was thinking of putting it in the oven for 2-3minvwhen it got here then store it in a container I have at the house and discard the box as usual.

I see no flaws in this plan.

From what I have been seeing, it appears to live longer on cardboard than other surfaces. In my experience as an immunocompromised person, the cardboard box is the biggest problem.

Dispose of the box carefully and wash your hands afterwards. The pizza is probably fine, though it's fine to cook it a bit longer for good measure too.

You can (potentially) order from a service with contactless delivery to reduce your risk. For example, Little Caesar's will let you leave instructions to leave it on the porch or whatever.

I think less so. Most other food production is done in production lines with from what I've seen more separation between people. It's also highly automated where it can be, and in huge warehouses in industrial areas, not tiny cramped kitchens with poor ventilation in cities.

Is it possible to reconfigure the space, perhaps take over some of the dining area?

I doubt it. You need gas supply, water supply, etc. It's not a quick job to reconfigure, plus I doubt many builders/plumbers will be available to physically do the work. I think most operators are just throwing in the towel; probably the numbers don't make sense if you have a dining area that is empty, and I imagine takeaway/drive through orders are down sharply as govt is saying only absolutely essential trips are allowed. Delivery orders were probably up sharply though I imagine.

Also many takeaway places don't have a dining room to reconfigure into.

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