# How concerned should I be about eating fast food in the covid-19 pandemic? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [March 14, 2020, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-concerned-should-i-be-about-eating-fast-food-in-the-covid-19-pandemic/849494 "2020-03-14T19:47:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2020, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-concerned-should-i-be-about-eating-fast-food-in-the-covid-19-pandemic/849494/41 "2020-03-15T23:01:58Z")
Dupe post ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2020, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-concerned-should-i-be-about-eating-fast-food-in-the-covid-19-pandemic/849494/42 "2020-03-15T23:13:50Z")
The Simpsons writers are unhappy about [this](https://youtube.com/watch?v=hqCVB0tOSVQ) video trending. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2020, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-concerned-should-i-be-about-eating-fast-food-in-the-covid-19-pandemic/849494/43 "2020-03-16T00:39:21Z")
> [@Jim\_Peebles](#): > > Further: if anyone here is arguing this virus is more dangerous than the “usual” viruses AND also still eats at restaurants, then that itself is a proof by contradiction that there is a fundamental flaw somewhere in their reasoning. No. Not everyone cooks. Some people have limited food storage space. Grocery stores are decimated. Some people drive a not insignificant distance for work & don’t want to eat in their car. Some people are traveling & not at home. Some people know the risks but are willing to chance it to get out of the house &/or meet with someone. Some people may want to do something special for an anniversary or birthday. Is there anyone who doesn’t know that drinking & driving is a bad idea, yet tens of thousands are _arrested_ for that every year. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2020, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-concerned-should-i-be-about-eating-fast-food-in-the-covid-19-pandemic/849494/44 "2020-03-16T02:19:23Z")
MrsRico has decided I’m not driving toward Sacramento (3 hrs round trip) on Tuesday so my fast-food options have dropped to zilch. Instead it’ll be a snackless shorter day in the county seat (1 hr round trip). I _could_ postpone - if I could be sure any postponement wouldn’t be indefinite. The uncertainty is maddening. Meanwhile, our governor has asked (not ordered) all taverns, wineries and brewpubs to close. Will the local biker bar submit? A nearby old-farts’ bar is dark. Will the taco wagons be gone? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2020, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-concerned-should-i-be-about-eating-fast-food-in-the-covid-19-pandemic/849494/45 "2020-03-16T02:28:35Z")
> [@RioRico](#): > > Will the taco wagons be gone? You should spoiler that shit, or at least add a trigger warning. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2020, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-concerned-should-i-be-about-eating-fast-food-in-the-covid-19-pandemic/849494/46 "2020-03-16T02:45:00Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > No. Not everyone cooks. Some people have limited food storage space. Grocery stores are decimated. Some people drive a not insignificant distance for work & don’t want to eat in their car. Some people are traveling & not at home. Some people know the risks but are willing to chance it to get out of the house &/or meet with someone. Some people may want to do something special for an anniversary or birthday. > Is there anyone who doesn’t know that drinking & driving is a bad idea, yet tens of thousands are _arrested_ for that every year. There’s also just a question of scale. If I get food from a restaurant, I am being exposed to what? Maybe 3-4 more people who might have had enough contact with my food to leave virus all over it? If I go out in public and stay there–sit at a table in a restaurant, have a drink at a bar–I am being exposed to so many more–the ones in the room with me and the ones that were there before, as well. More than that, I am exposing others to me in a way I am not if all I do is order on an app, pay on an app, run in and out. My main reason for social distancing is not to protect myself–I’d probably be fine if I got it–but to keep from giving it to someone more fragile. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2020, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-concerned-should-i-be-about-eating-fast-food-in-the-covid-19-pandemic/849494/47 "2020-03-16T16:10:04Z")
I would not expect the virus to last on food, especially if, like me, you usually wind up warming up the food once you get home because it’s too cold. And, of course, don’t touch your face before you wash your hands after getting the food. The virus dies pretty quickly on packages, so I suspect it would be fine by the time you get home. I’m much more concerned about my church deciding to run a daycare for the kids who will be out of school. I get the impetus–parents needing a place to send their kids and to get them fed–but those are worse than schools for germs. I hope that most parents will do what they can to avoid that situation, leaving kids who are old enough at home, having other older kids watch younger kids, getting younger baby sitters, and so on. And I hope the church will spread the other kids out. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2020, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-concerned-should-i-be-about-eating-fast-food-in-the-covid-19-pandemic/849494/48 "2020-03-16T16:47:45Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > The safety of food is a very valid concern. A lot of people are avoiding restaurants and using food delivery services like Bite Squad and GrubHub. If people are still ordering from food delivery services, then clearly the problem (for consumers) isn’t the food, it’s the dining facilities. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2020, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-concerned-should-i-be-about-eating-fast-food-in-the-covid-19-pandemic/849494/49 "2020-03-16T19:35:46Z")
> [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](#): > > What does a Domino’s pizza even look like these days? Do they still have [pepperoni](https://portcitydaily.com/wp-content/uploads/COVID19.jpg)? I’ve been told that they use [turmeric](https://schumanchu.eu/html/l/l_00080curcumavirus.html) as colouring agent, that gives then a lovely saffron look for a fraction of the price. Beats egg in your face. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2020, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-concerned-should-i-be-about-eating-fast-food-in-the-covid-19-pandemic/849494/50 "2020-03-16T19:46:41Z")
I don’t personally plan to cut back on my occasional fast food runs, but the danger in any case would I think be more customers shedding virus on door handles, tables, etc then a worker contaminating my food. Of course, a single infected worker would swamp that, so I could be completely wrong. ---
**Author:** ![jerez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c68b51/32.png) [@jerez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerez)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2020, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-concerned-should-i-be-about-eating-fast-food-in-the-covid-19-pandemic/849494/51 "2020-03-16T23:21:24Z")
I just tried to order a pizza by phone and was told that I have to order and prepay through the company’s website. Fine by me. I go to the website and it looks like they’ve nearly doubled their prices. There was a lot of information about new procedures, like the delivery person setting the order down and standing back until you pick it up and go inside. Anyone hear of anything similar? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2020, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-concerned-should-i-be-about-eating-fast-food-in-the-covid-19-pandemic/849494/52 "2020-03-17T01:52:00Z")
> [@jerez](#): > > There was a lot of information about new procedures, like the delivery person setting the order down and standing back until you pick it up and go inside. Anyone hear of anything similar? [Yes](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=22192293&postcount=106). ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-concerned-should-i-be-about-eating-fast-food-in-the-covid-19-pandemic/849494/54 "2020-04-15T14:28:42Z")
Reported. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-concerned-should-i-be-about-eating-fast-food-in-the-covid-19-pandemic/849494.md?page=2)