6 Safety & Hygiene Tips For When You 'Da Bao' Meals Or Get Takeaways Delivered

Food is not just fuel, it’s comfort.  Somehow we instinctively feel it’s important to eat yummy food when we’re stuck at home during the “circuit-breaker”. 

If you need a break from cooking, you can still get food deliveries from restaurants or 'da bao' meals from hawker stalls and eateries. These options are great ways to help keep your favourite food places alive and they bring a variety to your Stay@Home snacks.

But if you order dishes from outside, you’re smart to take extra measures to protect your family against the spread of Covid-19 virus.

Because while there’s no evidence the virus can live in cooked food, the packaging may be another story. A new study published in The New England Journal of Medicine, found the virus can survive in the air and on some surfaces, for this long:

• In the air — 3 hours 
• On copper — 4 hours
• On cardboard — 24 hours
• On stainless steel — 48 hours
• On plastic — 72 hours

"If you're touching items someone else has recently handled, be aware they could be contaminated, and wash your hands,” explain James Lloyd-Smith, a co-author of the study and a UCLA professor of ecology and evolutionary biology. 

With these new findings in mind, follow these hygiene and safety tips when you order takeaway: