Food delivery platforms Aomi and MFood have recorded an increase of 20% to 30% in their services, amid the current Covid-19 outbreak facing the city.
To slow the spread of the virus, the government has announced a mandatory confinement that bars residents leaving home unless necessary. The confinement has led to an increase in the number of takeaway orders recorded by the two food delivery platforms.
“The average daily number of takeaway orders was around 30,000 before the outbreak, and the number has increased to up to 40,000 per day now,” said a manager of the Aomi platform.
The manager said that there are currently over 1,000 food delivery drivers registered, and their daily average delivery capacity is 40 orders, noting that it is still enough to satisfy the demand so far. As the flow of people and vehicles has been reduced under the current mandatory confinement measure, the manager believes that the pace of deliveries can also be improved.
“As of last week, the average daily number of orders has increased around 20 per cent,” said another takeaway platform, MFood.
A representative at MFood said that since the outbreak of the pandemic on June 18 when dining-in became prohibited, takeaway orders have continued to rise. MFood’s spokesperson further said that there are around 1,000 food delivery drivers so far. Most are full-time drivers, which is enough to cope with the situation.
Both food delivery platform companies said that drivers are required to take daily body temperature checks, clean and disinfect their vehicles, carry out nucleic acid testing every day, and wear a mask, to ensure full compliance with the government’s pandemic prevention measures.
Aeson Lei, president of the Macau Catering Industry Association, previously stated that since residents have mainly been ordering meals via online platforms, there has been minimal impact on business for restaurants that have been directed to only provide takeaway service during the pandemic. Staff Reporter
