Coronavirus pandemic | Zomato, Swiggy deliveries hit as 95% restaurants shut amid lockdown

The volume of orders on both food delivery platforms -- Swiggy and Zomato -- have plummeted by at least 60 percent

Moneycontrol News

March 26, 2020 / 17:52 IST

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Most restaurants and kitchens have been shut since the outbreak of COVID-19 in India and with a complete nationwide lockdown being imposed, the numbers have gone down even further. The National Restaurant Association of India has informed that nearly 95 percent eateries in the country have suspended service temporarily to help curb the spread of the deadly novel coronavirus.

The dwindling numbers have greatly affected the services of food delivery platforms such as Zomato and Swiggy, reported the Economic Times.

While home delivery of food continues to be listed under essential services during the 21-day lockdown period, the unavailability of partners has made it difficult for them to operate. Besides, delivery personnel have reportedly been roughed up by police and cornered by local authorities. Now, most riders and kitchen staff are fearing police action and refusing to step out during the lockdown. Kitchens are also running out of supplies to prepare food items listed on their menu, thus being forced to down shutters.

Coronavirus India Lockdown LIVE

However, both Swiggy and Zomato have vowed to continue operations despite the crunch of partners. So, they have introduced the option of “contactless delivery”, whereby delivery personnel will be leaving the food parcel outside our doors to avoid any contact with the person receiving the order.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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