Delhi ranks second in the highest number of cases tested positive in the country with 1,500 cases. Though many people have been avoiding ordering food from outside restaurant chains, many have taken been judiciously using online services. Food delivery services such as Zomato and Swiggy had been classified under essential services and items at the beginning of the 21-day lockdown. Despite screening and constant pressure by Zomato, one of their restaurant partners tested positive for the novel COVID-19 virus.
“Delivery Boy came into contact with 72 families”
The employee is said to be a resident of Malviya Nagar and had reportedly been exhibiting symptoms for the past 20 days. Despite the pressure to constantly screen its employees, the restaurant failed to take notice of the delivery boy. The restaurant mainly delivered pizzas to the South Delhi regions.
The COVID-19 virus test came back positive which resulted in 72 families in South Delhi who had their food delivered by this individual to be put under self-quarantine as a precautionary measure. Though none of his colleagues have tested positive or have exhibited symptoms of the virus, 17 other employees who may have come into contact with the pizza delivery boy were put under self-quarantine. The delivery boy had also visited hospitals in the South Delhi District before testing positive.
“Services have been suspended”
The restaurant has been since been shut and has suspended all services. The restaurant
owners have asked the public to not panic as the employees were told to strictly adhere to contact-less delivery guidelines and wear masks and gloves. As required by Zomato
regulations, they were also made to sanitize regularly.
“Zomato apology”
Zomato has uploaded a public apology and assured its customers that they will follow stricter guidelines. Further, it was stated that though the orders were placed through Zomato, the delivery boy was an employee of their restaurant partner.
“Dominoes clarification”
As a response to public outrage due to the anonymity of the restaurant, the famous pizza chain Dominos faced a lot of backlashes as many stipulated that it was this chain. Dominoes has since posted a clarification stating that it was not associated with this incident and that it continues to screen its employees and follow strict guidelines to ensure safety.
“No one has tested positive yet”
As of now, none of the colleagues or the families have exhibited any symptoms. The colleagues had been tested and their results came back negative. However, they have been told to self-quarantine as a precautionary measure irrespective of the test result.
