Telangana has over 800 cases, with close to 20 deaths. The decision was taken after a food delivery partner tested positive for COVID-19. A 19-year old restaurant employee in Delhi’s Malviya Nagar tested positive for coronavirus, prompting authorities to quarantine 72 people whose homes he had made deliveries to.
Media reports said that 17 other delivery personnel, who had come in contact with the infected agent, had also been isolated at a facility in Chattarpur. But, so far, the infected person’s co-workers have tested negative for coronavirus, Zomato said in an older statement.
At the time of publishing this story, Zomato and Swiggy were yet to respond to email queries.
Hyderabad is one of the biggest markets for foodtech players. Food delivery as a service has seen a 10-20 percent drop from the second week of March, according to a RedSeer report. The RedSeer report added that after an initial spike in the first week, food delivery declined in the second and the third week; it is expected to reduce further.
Order volumes have dropped, some states have deemed food delivery as “unessential”, and even where services are operational, multiple on-ground challenges persist.
Even with Swiggy having Swiggy Stores, and Zomato offering Zomato Market, the app ban will be a big blow to the foodtech unicorns.
In an earlier conversation with YourStory, Rohan Agarwal, Director, RedSeer Consulting, said two to three types of food delivery orders were currently impacted. This includes people who regularly travelled for business and leisure, and would occasionally order in instead of going out; and those who ordered at work (Zomato and Swiggy had successfully replaced lunch dabbas).
Source: Yourstory
