After a food delivery man got infected by novel coronavirus in Delhi recently, leading restaurants that are open only for home delivery and online food aggregators of Kolkata said they have become extra cautious in following all precautionary measures during the lockdown.
The restaurants said they are not taking orders from sensitive zones (hotspots) identified by the state government, keeping a tab on body temperature of employees, handing over food to delivery men maintaining social distancing, and sanitizing their kitchens regularly.
Online food aggregators such as Zomato and Swiggy claimed they are delivering food only from those eateries that maintain government prescribed safety measures.
According to an estimate, less than 10 per cent of the 50,000 odd restaurants of West Bengal opted for online food delivery since the state government shut them down on March 21 to check the spread of coronavirus.
Shiladitya Choudhury, the owner of Awadhi cuisine restaurant, 'Oudh 1590', said the eatery has stopped taking orders from sensitive zones (hotspots) identified by the state government.
Choudhury said, "We have always maintained a two- layered packaging system so that the food container doesn't come in contact with the delivery executives.
"And in the present situation we have taken additional precautions like monitoring body temperature of kitchen and delivery staff, sanitising delivery executives, and marking spots where they would wait," he said.
Asked if the incident in New Delhi has left any adverse effect on orders in the past few days, Choudhury said, "Not really. We are getting 15-20 per cent more orders than usual."
A delivery person of a pizza chain in Delhi had tested positive for coronavirus a few days back, following which 72 families were told to observe self-quarantine. A mobile food aggregator claimed the contamination was caused at the pizza outlet.
A spokesman of Bengali cuisine restaurant 'Koshe Kasha' said its staff and delivery boys are wearing masks, washing hands frequently and keeping distance with customers delivering parcel at their doorstep,
"Despite a sharp dip in revenues, we are trying to protect jobs of around 160 employees," the spokesman said,
Ishtiaque Ahmad of the Shiraz Golden Restaurant, said, "Our chefs are using sanitiser before preparing a dish and packing it for delivery.
"While all the kitchen staff are wearing gloves, masks and caps to maintain hygiene, we have started thermal screening of all the delivery staff before handing over the food and maintaining the norms of social distancing strictly," said Ahmad, a partner of the Mughal cuisine restaurant.
He said while his restaurant has not received any feedback from customers being apprehensive about virus contamination from delivery boys in the wake of the Delhi incident, "but aggregators say orders have dipped after the news spread."
Piyali Mukherjee, one of the owners of fine dining theme restaurant 'Hanglaatherium' said, "All online delivery executives are handed over the carry bag (containing food container) only if they are wearing mask and gloves."
"Food is packed in containers and then wrapped with cling film to avoid any spillage as well as contamination. It is then put in the carry bag and handed over to the delivery person of aggregators," she said.
Sources in online food aggregator Zomato said they are only delivering food from restaurants which maintain the WHO safety standard in letter and spirit.
"We strictly follow all listed hygiene standards like checking body temperature and frequent hand wash by riders," sources said.
Swiggy sources also said they are adhering to all safety norms and even offering a badge to a restaurant which follows the listed standard norms which included use of mask and checking of body temperature of employees and sanitization of furniture.
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