That is why the meat packing companies are loaded with it.

Just a guess, that is all.

If it is true we are all as good as dead.

say you go one of those ice cream/mix-in places. maybe they've got the 6-foot rule in place, but should you still worry about the virus being on the ice cream and transferred to your mouth?

it could survive at the temperature of ice cream. But if you’re nervous about eating outside of Your home, you probably shouldn’t.

... unless plenty of time has passed since it was handled.

The virus won't survive forever without a host, but am I really supposed to believe it will survive less time on moist cold-cuts than a dry metal plate? C'mon!

I also put on a mask even when the CDC wasn't recommending it for people outside of healthcare workers.

the virus then how do some end up with intestinal Covid? Personally, we have been cooking all of our meals at home. I heard one guy say on tv that if you warm the food up in the microwave then you kill the virus. He also said to be very careful with the packages that the food was in. 🤷🏽?♀️

but some foods turn to blecch if you do that. and microwaves are notoriously uneven, even if it has a rotating carousel.

... then you inhale.

but then, i would the articles who insist there's no problem with food (other than the packaging) would say, immediately after you eat it, you must rinse your mouth with alcohol/mouthwash.

...prevent infections from crossing from a cook to the food, but that's only 'help prevent'. Given that the virus can be spread by asymptomatic people, it's going to be more dangerous than cooking at home.

Also, not a ton of food service jobs provide paid sick days, so there is big incentive for sick workers to try to go to work anyway. Early on in the pandemic before we got a stay-at-home order in WI (which was just overturned by some death-eating Republicans), I started checking around at which food outlets provided paid sick days, and only ordered from there. Now, we've given it up entirely and we cook everything at home for the time being.

even in the most carefully clean restaurants, patrons run the risk of getting sick. it's really not possible for food to sit in a crowded kitchen and not pick up some germs. but under normal circumstances, the worst result is usually just one bad day with several trips to the bathroom.

now it's something potentially lethal.

...suggests both a very high viral load, (especially in saliva) and other modest digestive issues.
High loading could put enough virus into the stomach that residence time and mass transfer limitations keep the ionic chlorine denaturation of the virus from being complete.
The latter suggests a GI disorder due to limited enzyme activity which helps expose the virus, particular the RNA strands to chlorine attack.
I'm not a physiologist, but I know those haloorganic mechanisms to know under reasonably predictable circumstances, the virus won't survive the HCl in the stomach.

When we eat, food doesn't go to the top of the upper back of our nasal cavity.
When we breathe, air goes there. So, that is how we can get it by breathing it in, but not by eating it? It's just a theory I just came up with. So, it is just a guess. I'm far from an expert.

either way you could get virus particles on your lips and in your mouth. even if the only route to infection is via the back of the nasal cavity, if it can go from the mouth to there, why would it matter how the virus got on the lips or in the mouth?

Maybe when we put our hands to our mouths, we breathe then, but not when we are eating? Would that make sense?

I hope some doctors/nurses/health professionals weight in soon, because your question is a really good question. I've been worried about the food since Day 1.

If you get it in your eyes or nose, the temp is good too take up residence.

It hangs out way back in your upper throat, where they swab from. You can expell the virus through your mouth, So wear a mask to protect others. Also if you touch your mouth, and have it, and then touch something else, you can leave some there.

I've not read anything about catching it by mouth except if you breath it in in the air.

IMO as a RN.

It will be interesting to see how it all develops, how things change as more is learned. It is frustrating to not know so much about it.

They can’t survive long without a host. A sneezed on pizza would likely cause infection if eaten soon after the sneeze, so I think I would always reheat takeout, for safety sake.

You are missing the critical element of heat.

Heat kills the virus.

Hot food is hot. Someone coughing on their hand, leaving it on a surface, you picking it up, and putting it in your mouth, doesn't include a cooking step.

So, make me feel better and do this:

When you get food delivered, empty it from its container onto or into your own microwaveable vessel. Pizza on a plate, Chinese into a bowl, whatever. Then, microwave it for a minute, just to do two things (1) give the surface a quick re-heat, and (2) kill the virus with the microwaves.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3884686

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/0307945042000205874?needAccess=true&fbclid=IwAR1MRwDeQrPCOGtHuIUZL4Kmq8B6_OT-ht8wfBghnDbXIZ8yKeQ5rrmHWOk&

so where i've read that the virus is not foodborne, or that you can't get it from food, you're saying you can get it from cold or room temperature foods, or perhaps cooked food that has recently been exposed to the virus (with not enough time for the heat to kill it).

so i should stay away from prepared salads unless i want to eat it hot and wilted (ick!) but delivered hot foods are ok (with your suggested precautions)?

and restaurant food probably is ok right after it's cooked, but there's a risk of the virus falling on the food between the time it comes out of the oven and the time it arrives at my table? (putting aside the risk of getting it from air in the restaurant, which is surely the bigger risk)...

I'm going the cautious route. To each his or her own.

Assuming the virus wasn't created in a lab, there is nobody alive at this moment who can offer conclusive advice about how this virus works.