Adding my location :-) - Just curious - getting take out food during Covid-19

[mlktwins]

I'm not trying to start anything - I promise.  Just curious if people are eating out/getting take out or just cooking at home?

Please keep in mind, that we are the only support right now for my 85 year old dad and the main support for my 93 year old in-laws, so we have been extra careful with all of this.

We have not eaten anything from a restaurant since before March 13th.  If we did, we already know to be really careful with containers, etc. coming into the home.

But...is anyone worried about getting take-out at all?  I'm curious for us too, but my 93 year old in-laws are really, really wanting a meal from Long Horn Steakhouse.  My FIL talks about it all the time.  We have been buying their groceries (wiping them down and everything) so they are well fed.  I have also been making them some meals.  But...they ask about this every time we talk to them.  I guess, with their age, we haven't felt safe because I don't know what the people handling the food are actually doing when they cook.  I see so many people touching theirs masks all the time, moving them up and down, and then touching things. 

Anyway, any information is welcome :-). 

Adding my location to see if it makes a difference :-)!  I live in Northern Virginia, which currently has 40% of the cases in our state and my county has the 2nd highest number of cases in the state. Our positives are rising, but we have are doing a lot of testing at the moment.   

Edited June 1, 2020 by mlktwins
Adding my location

[Acorn]

We have eaten takeout about once a week. I do not have concerns about the virus on food. We transfer from the takeout container to our own table settings. We have chosen restaurants that have online payments and curbside pickup.

[Arcadia]

My takeouts are samosas from the Asian Indian deli, and Chinese dim sum from a Chinese deli. Both are piping hot usually and can be reheated at home prior to eating. So we aren’t worried. 

Pre-COVID, we also tend to buy takeout that is either piping hot to eat on the way home or that can be reheated. 

[prairiewindmomma]

We haven’t, but we are considering it for a special event later this summer. We would only choose items we can reheat at home.

[TheReader]

We've done take-out roughly once/week from assorted small, locally owned places. All but two had curbside pick-up where we did not have to enter the store. Of those, one had employees wearing masks, one did not. 

We've reheated when home, use our own plates/etc, and thus far have had no issues (we've also picked up donuts three times and not reheated those, but the employees are all well masked and the donuts once cooked are only touched with tongs). 

I think you'd be fine, especially if you pick it up, transfer containers, and they reheat when they eat. 

[Pawz4me]

We've been getting takeout at least twice a week since the week before our SAH order went into effect. I have no worries about it at all.

[itsheresomewhere]

We have gotten take out quite a few times.  I don’t reheat it and just transfer it to plates . Very low risk. 

[Jean in Newcastle]

I get take-out once a week.  One week was twice because things were a bit hectic that week.  Like Acorn, I am not worried about the virus on food.  We transfer food to our own plates.  The restaurants themselves have been very good about their systems - one person allowed in at a time at one place, another has someone come out to bring your food to you etc.  Restaurant staff and customers are all masked.  I don't reheat anything because everything is very hot to begin with. 

[alisoncooks]

We have, at least 1-2x a week.  We're not reheating or plating at home. 

Edited June 1, 2020 by alisoncooks

[MEmama]

We’ve been ordering Chinese once a week. The restaurant has a very safe set up for pick up, signs everywhere about safety and maintaining distance (only one person at a time is allowed inside), they offer hand sanitizer and ask that the customer uses it before paying, they keep their pens disinfected, and everyone is always masked in the kitchen and front of house. I have no worries that they take it seriously.

Back in March when things were shut, they stayed closed without even pickup available for several weeks. The front of their shop was covered with handwritten signs about how keeping safe and protecting each other is patriotic and how much they love this country. I’m not a rah rah American, but their sentiments were so pure and powerful. I’m grateful I can support them.

Chinese takeout has been the number one thing I’m missing in quarantine! I’m looking forward to going back when we can. 

[PeachyDoodle]

We get takeout at least once a week. We try to patronize local restaurants that are struggling after the SAH orders. No worries here at all.

I was just at the doctor's office today and my doctor was saying how glad he was to finally get to eat in a restaurant last week after restrictions were lifted here. So that made me feel a lot better about going out more.

[Night Elf]

We haven't stopped our regular eating out each week. DS eats out 5 nights a week at least. We've had no problems. Ds's birthday is in July. I'm thinking we'll order from his favorite restaurant which is a sit-down restaurant and get curbside service which they offered even before Covid started.

[mumto2]

I am reheating........that sort of says it all! 😉

[Scarlett]

We have been getting take out once or twice a week.  We transfer to our own dishes....but we do not reheat.  I also am not washing down my groceries when I get home.  I wash my hand thoroughly when I get home.....after also using hand sanitizer when I get back in my car from being anywhere.

I really think if we can get it from take out there is no hope for us all.  

[math teacher]

We have gotten take-out once, but we would have gotten it more if we didn't have a personal challenge going. We had planned to take a vacation next week, and we wanted to suspend eating out until then. We cancelled the vacation, and will probably get take-out soon.

[rebcoola]

We have been getting take out at least twice a week.  It as easy way to support the economy and I see it as very low risk. 

[regentrude]

We cook most meals. But have been getting takeout once a week since the lockdown to support local restaurants. I am not aware of any evidence of foodborne transmission,  and surfaces seem to play a much smaller role than initially assumed 

[mathnerd]

The general guideline is that transfer of germs from surfaces has a smaller risk of infection. But, it you are ordering for vulnerable family members, then, if you transfer their takeout food to another container, throw away the original container, wash your hands, and then reheat the food (easier in a microwave, until the food is hot), there is very little chance of infection from it. That would be the safest way to consume takeout food 

Edited June 1, 2020 by mathnerd

[DoraBora]

We've brought in takeout at least once a week since April to support our local restaurants.  My elderly mom is staying with us, so I understand your concern. 

At first, we wiped down containers or transferred them to our own dishes (sliding pizzas onto parchment paper on the kitchen counter).  We don't remove things from their containers anymore since surface contamination isn't the problem we once thought it to be.

I am a little leery of uncooked foods, such as salads, but hot foods are fine with me.

[katilac]

Every source I've seen considers take-out to be a low-risk activity. 

[Lanny]

OP they are 93 years old and you are making them wait for their favorite food?  How much longer do you think they will be around to eat and enjoy that food?  Also, I believe the CDC reversed, recently, the theory that Covid-19 can live on surfaces. Especially that it can live on surfaces for a long time.

I am over 70 and the Colombian government has severely restricted us, for our protection.  In an email from the U.S. Embassy about the changes in restrictions due to Covid-19 that begin today (fewer restrictions) . "People over 70 years old will remain in preventive isolation until August 31, but will be able to go outside three times a week for 30 minutes; " Preventive Isolation is how they translated that from Spanish...     House arrest is another way one could phrase it. It gets old but I am thankful the government here is trying to protect the most vulnerable.

My Stepson is our designated shopper and he had been doing the shopping on Mondays. My DW and I thought he would go shopping today.  I had several things on the list, but my most important request, was for a large container of Chocolate Ice Cream. Then, DW found out that they changed his day to shop from Mondays to Thursdays...

Your relatives are not going to live forever and how long can they wait for that meal?

Yes, we occasionally order Take Out food and a couple of times my Stepson has picked it up, when he returns from the supermarket. There is no in-restaurant dining permitted here at this time, although I suspect they will begin to permit some of that  soon, if not this month.

IMO there is a much greater chance your elderly relatives will pass away, without being able to eat a meal from their favorite restaurant, than from them getting Covid-19 from the take out containers. Let them enjoy, before they pass away, is my suggestion to you. 

[mmasc]

1 hour ago, Plum said:

Get your in-laws some take-out and give yourself a break. You have even less to worry about with hot foods. So go feed their craving and do it before the beef prices get too out of control. (they are already in my opinion) 

You can dish it up on a plate when you get there. Pop it in the microwave for a bit and let them enjoy. 

This is exactly what I was going to say. Yes, get them their Longhorn Steakhouse! And grab yourself something too!

(And I’m saying this as someone who has been playing it very safe and by the rules. We waited a full two months before getting *any* kind of take out at all. Since then, we’ve done it about once a week with no problems.) 

[Pen]

I’d be very careful about masks etc when picking it up, and would get rid of original packaging and reheat it at home if possible. 

I think the exposure to others would be biggest risk, so consider whether several meals could be gotten at once (rarer than they like) and put in fridge or freezer for weekly or ? Special meals for a few weeks ahead, and reheated before eating. 

[Joker]

At first, we were worried about it but we get take out about once a week now. We even get sushi now, so definitely not heating it up again at home. I also quit wiping everything down a few weeks ago. We all just make sure we’re washing our hands.

[athena1277]

We’ve had food to go at least once a week since this started.  Pizza, bbq, Chick-fil-a, Steak Out, etc.  We don’t wipe containers or replate.  Except for maybe twice, I have gone to pick it up.  The only problems we have had was a mistake on a pizza order.  No illnesses.

[Ali in OR]

We only ate home-cooked food for the first month. Then we started getting a pizza every other week for the next month. Now we're doing take out once a week, and not always pizza. We did our favorite Mexican place last week because I want them to survive this. Now that's a lot more expensive than pizza, so we can't do it every week. But we'll keep getting some kind of take out every week. If we start having a lot more cases in our area, I will go back to home-cooking only, but mostly just to keep me home. I'm convinced that all or almost all transmission is from breathing the same air, not from surfaces we touch. So it would be more to keep me away from other people than any fear from the food or containers. We've been at 55 cases total in my county for a couple of weeks now. If it were NYC at the peak, I would not be going anywhere.

[mlktwins]

OP here!  I updated my original post with our location to see if that changes anything.

Adding my location to see if it makes a difference :-)!  I live in Northern Virginia, which currently has 40% of the cases in our state and my county has the 2nd highest number of cases in the state.  Our positives are rising, but we have are doing a lot of testing at the moment.

[Spryte]

Hi twins!  Waving at you!

We still have not done take out.  I’m reading with interest, hoping to be ready to do it soon.

[mmasc]

1 hour ago, mlktwins said:

OP here!  I updated my original post with our location to see if that changes anything.

Adding my location to see if it makes a difference :-)!  I live in Northern Virginia, which currently has 40% of the cases in our state and my county has the 2nd highest number of cases in the state.  Our positives are rising, but we have are doing a lot of testing at the moment.

That doesn’t change my answer regarding this. I still think food to-go is relatively low risk, especially if you can get curbside service. But I’d even run in and grab it if curbside wasn’t available. I’d just wear a mask and make sure I re-plated the food and washed my hands after throwing bags away. 

[Bambam]

At the start, we got to-go/drive-thru/curbside two times a week. I would only get hot food - not sandwiches from a sub place.  We have several places that we don't want to go out of business. 
Now, we are probably up to 3-4 times/week? I'm not willing to sit in a restaurant and eat yet, but I'll drive by or go in and pick it up. I'd probably be okay with picking a sub sandwich now, but that just hasn't appealed to anyone yet.  

We are in east Texas - low number of cases. 

[Guest]

I don’t imagine the risk is very high but I have not had any take out since our restrictions began...actually, since even before that because of staying home when I got back from Europe. The last food I ate from somewhere besides home was in the airport on Feb 29th. 

We are not big eat-out people ordinarily. We almost never order food to eat at home; we generally only eat out if we are away from the house or traveling, so obv. that is not something we have been doing.*

*Dh has gotten food at Chipotle and I think McDs while working. And he bought pre-made crabcakes at a fancy grocery store for mother’s day dinner for me. But as far as all of us looking at a take-out menu, ordering, and picking up, that has happened zero. 

Also PS, some of this is a financial decision, too, since we had no paychecks for over two months. 

[katilac]

2 hours ago, mlktwins said:

OP here!  I updated my original post with our location to see if that changes anything.

Adding my location to see if it makes a difference :-)!  I live in Northern Virginia, which currently has 40% of the cases in our state and my county has the 2nd highest number of cases in the state.  Our positives are rising, but we have are doing a lot of testing at the moment.

I live in a hotspot county in a hotspot state, with a far higher number of deaths than Virginia. Takeout is still a low-risk activity. You can always move the food to a fresh container for them if you want to lower the risk even more. 

[gardenmom5]

I've occasionally indulged in take-out.  But less than before.   

[AmandaVT]

We've gotten take out a few times. Twice from our favorite Pho restaurant in town and one Panera for DS's birthday. I'd feel comfortable-  get that man his Longhorn! 😃

[YaelAldrich]

2 hours ago, mlktwins said:

OP here!  I updated my original post with our location to see if that changes anything.

Adding my location to see if it makes a difference :-)!  I live in Northern Virginia, which currently has 40% of the cases in our state and my county has the 2nd highest number of cases in the state.  Our positives are rising, but we have are doing a lot of testing at the moment.

Still makes no difference as I am in Boston (way more cases than you I believe).  We want to keep our best kosher restaurants alive and that means I get take out about once a week.  Sometimes twice.  I don't usually reheat but I replate  because we're fancy pants like that.  LOL

Enjoy the steakhouse - I would if I ate non-kosher meat!  

[Pen]

2 hours ago, mlktwins said:

OP here!  I updated my original post with our location to see if that changes anything.

Adding my location to see if it makes a difference :-)!  I live in Northern Virginia, which currently has 40% of the cases in our state and my county has the 2nd highest number of cases in the state.  Our positives are rising, but we have are doing a lot of testing at the moment.

 

Maybe Call the steak house and ask what their safety precautions are. Like masks for cashiers? Or would they bring it out while u pay remotely? 

if at least on a par with grocery precautions and it is what your elder parents really really want, and you can do it with masks etc., then same as what I’d put in my post above... and to try for a number of dinners bought at once and frozen to reheat later so you don’t expose yourself and your elder folks over and over.  

Maybe U could even do a two week quarantine from your elder folks before u deliver the meals to be extra careful. 

 

Or if they do delivery Maybe that would lessen exposure. 

 

But ...

Don’t do it if you think u would be putting yourself and your nuclear family at risk .  

 

 

 

[ktgrok]

6 hours ago, Scarlett said:

 

I really think if we can get it from take out there is no hope for us all.  

Well,I'm not sure take out is a need, as much as a want, lol. But I do get the overall point. 

[ktgrok]

I have not had takeout yet. Twice I almost ordered delivery, but it was a huge pain, cost three times as much as I expected, and I didn't do it. I couldn't see spending way more money for food that was less safe (and less healthy). 

That said, I am wanting a starbucks drink! But...that's not something I'm going to reheat (iced Americano). And I know they say you can't get it from food. But they said you didn't need a mask, and it wasn't airborne, and to just wash your hands. So...not sure I believe that they know everything yet. 

My main thing is...if touching your mouth after touching a contaminated surface can infect you, why can't putting a contaminated thing, like a drink or french fry in your mouth, also infect you? Either way, the virus is going in your mouth. So....not totally okay with it yet. (I get that in the stomach the acid should kill it..maybe? Or did they think it needed respiratory access to replicate? Because I'm reading now that it may be able to replicate in ANY cell in the body)

[Scarlett]

13 minutes ago, Ktgrok said:

Well,I'm not sure take out is a need, as much as a want, lol. But I do get the overall point. 

Lol...well, that is t what I meant......I meant I consider it so low risk. 

[Clemsondana]

Through this whole thing we've tried to figure out at different stages what the most helpful thing we could do is.  So we stayed out of grocery stores for 3 weeks during the insane rushes - we garden and buy meat from local farmers so we ate from the freezer and got milk at the deserted gas station convenience store.  At some point we decided that the most useful thing would be to support restaurants, so we've gotten carryout twice/week for the past 6 weeks.  At first we wiped things down, but now we don't.  My 70 yo parents, who have only visited on our porch, have gotten carryout a couple of times.  I actually can't figure out how most people put together their assortment of what they will and won't do - my parents have gotten carryout but my mom is worried about a gathering where several ladies bring their own food and sit in a big circle with social distancing at a park to celebrate the birthday of a widow who lost her adult son to the flu in Feb and could use some support.  But, I don't question - I think everybody needs to figure out their own comfort level and go with that.  With older folks, my husband and I have come to the conclusion that as long as their faculties are intact they should make their own decisions.  My out of state inlaws went to an outdoor birthday party for a grandson, saying that they didn't know how many more they'd be around to see...it's their decision to make.  My parents made a different decision around a bunch of family birthdays, and that was also their decision to make.  

[Pen]

4 hours ago, Ktgrok said:

I have not had takeout yet. Twice I almost ordered delivery, but it was a huge pain, cost three times as much as I expected, and I didn't do it. I couldn't see spending way more money for food that was less safe (and less healthy). 

That said, I am wanting a starbucks drink! But...that's not something I'm going to reheat (iced Americano). And I know they say you can't get it from food. But they said you didn't need a mask, and it wasn't airborne, and to just wash your hands. So...not sure I believe that they know everything yet. 

My main thing is...if touching your mouth after touching a contaminated surface can infect you, why can't putting a contaminated thing, like a drink or french fry in your mouth, also infect you? Either way, the virus is going in your mouth. So....not totally okay with it yet. (I get that in the stomach the acid should kill it..maybe? Or did they think it needed respiratory access to replicate? Because I'm reading now that it may be able to replicate in ANY cell in the body)

 

Well, heating masks to 170 F in oven is supposed to deactivate virus, so I would think that bringing fries or baked potatoes or ? and steaks back up to hot in a 350 F oven would be pretty good to deactivate virus too. 

Not so helpful for salad.  

Id go for soup options if any , and make salads at home. 

[KungFuPanda]

We’re in a hotspot and get takeout every 10-14 days, so 2-3 times per month. I just make sure we get hot food only. I’m not getting and salads or ice cream cones, but I’m comfortable with pizza or anything that I can stick I’m my oven on warm while I toss the original packaging and wash my hands. 
 

I’d love to go to a restaurant right now, but it’s going to be ages before we’re ready for that. My city just announced that pools and camps are all shut down for the summer. It’s going to be weird. 

[mlktwins]

OP here again!  Thank you everyone for your kind and thoughtful responses.  We are considering bringing my in-laws over the end of June for my boys' bday and getting it then for all of us.  My MIL fell yesterday so that has become the priority of the moment 😔!

@Ktgrok Yes, I agree with your last paragraph about contaminated food vs. contaminated surface!!!

@Lanny I totally hear what you are saying.  My DH wants them to live forever so easier said than done 😋.

@ClemsonDana I hear what you are saying here for sure!  But...I am the sole caregiver of my dad, who does not live with me.  I do everything for him though - bills, groceries, now I do all his cleaning (we let the cleaning person go in mid-March), taxes, medicine container filler upper :-).  For my in-laws, my BIL and his wife are not helping at all.  My SIL keeps doing things that takes her out of rotation every 14 days it seems.  So...it is me and DH left to take care of them.  It would be great if they just made their own choices, but their choices affect us as well because if we get it from them, I can either give it to my father or I might get sick and not be able to care for him.  I wish everyone could just take care of themselves and we could just not go around them if they decide to be out and about and/or doing things we deem risky.  Really a sucky place to be in at the moment to be honest.

But...we will figure it out.  I really do appreciate the input from everyone!!!  Be safe....

17 hours ago, mlktwins said:

OP here!  I updated my original post with our location to see if that changes anything.

Adding my location to see if it makes a difference :-)!  I live in Northern Virginia, which currently has 40% of the cases in our state and my county has the 2nd highest number of cases in the state.  Our positives are rising, but we have are doing a lot of testing at the moment.

We live in SE Michigan which was hit very hard with the virus early on.  We still got take out once a week or so.  I have never wiped down the containers, some was family style so it was in a large foil container so that went on a plate,  but Subway did not.  My daughter got Culver’s a couple of times while out doing driving practice.  We have been getting donuts on Saturday.  All of this food (almost) has been requested by and financed by my 78 yo mother who is going crazy at home with my 90yo father with dementia.  Except for the donuts and pizza a couple times per month we rarely went out to eat before the stay at home order.  It provides something to look forward to around here.  I vote to get them their steak - everyone needs something to look forward to these days.

[mmasc]

I’m sorry about your MIL. 😔 I hope she recovers quickly. 

[SKL]

We have gotten take-out at least once a week throughout.  We are now back to going to restaurants.  However, I don't visit elderly people at this point.

I think you should be fine with take-out, as long as you/they follow basic precautions that are now pretty standard.  Most places now are doing contactless delivery, so nobody is going to cough in your face.  Basic sanitation efforts should take care of the rest.  I haven't heard this spreads by eating prepared food.

[Lanny]

Unexpectedly, we had take out for Lunch yesterday. It was Meat. BBQ and huge quantities. They ordered two (2) boxes of Meat. I am not sure how many pounds (or kilos?) that was, but one box would have fed the 4 of us. My DW gave me so much meat that I felt like I had a Basketball inside my stomach. 1/3 of that quantity and I would have been full.   DW said this morning that she was also very full. Both of us ate too much at one time...

Usually, when we order take out, it is from a place that sells Fried Chicken. Or BBQ Chicken.  Always thoroughly cooked and always delicious.

We don't have a "Papa Johns" pizza place within delivery distance and that is our "Gold Standard" for Pizza, but my DW and Stepson did make 2 Pizzas a month or so ago and I heard them speaking about it last week, but that   meal seems to have been put "on hold"? I am not sure if they are lacking one or more ingredients or why the Pizza is delayed.

The food here is usually thoroughly cooked with the exception of French Fries, which they don't seem to know look like they are cooked on the outside, but are crude or close to that on the inside and need to be cooked much longer. That's a pet peeve of mine.

We also had Hamburgers the other day from take out. Very good, except for the potatoes.

I vote for letting the 93 year olds eat their meal from their favorite restaurant ASAP.  If they pass away before that happens, the OP and her DH are going to feel a lot of guilt.

Edited June 2, 2020 by Lanny
Correction: They made 2 Pizzas.

[mlktwins]

11 minutes ago, Lanny said:

I vote for letting the 93 year olds eat their meal from their favorite restaurant ASAP.  If they pass away before that happens, the OP and her DH are going to feel a lot of guilt.

Thanks for the input Lanny, but to be honest, we will not feel any guilt if this happens.  We are actually taking great care of them - we call them everyday, see them often (we are actually being very safe on our end so we can care for them), and probably do more for them many do for their elderly parents.  I posted again earlier today about possibly doing their steak dinner at the end of June for my boys' b-day, but MIL fell yesterday.  A restaurant meal is the least of our worries at the moment.

[Spryte]

14 minutes ago, mlktwins said:

Thanks for the input Lanny, but to be honest, we will not feel any guilt if this happens.  We are actually taking great care of them - we call them everyday, see them often (we are actually being very safe on our end so we can care for them), and probably do more for them many do for their elderly parents.  I posted again earlier today about possibly doing their steak dinner at the end of June for my boys' b-day, but MIL fell yesterday.  A restaurant meal is the least of our worries at the moment.

You are doing an amazing job.  
 

[mlktwins]

1 minute ago, Spryte said:

You are doing an amazing job.  
 

🥰.  Thank you!  Just sent you a response -- LOL!!!