To flatten the curve of COVID-19 and give hospitals a chance to not overcrowd with cases, restaurants should close and not offer takeout or delivery services.

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced COVID-19 is mainly transmitted through contact with respiratory droplets, which can remain on surfaces for a period of time.

According to an article published by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on March 17, scientists from NIH, the Centers for Disease Control

Photographers: and Prevention, UCLA and Princeton University researched the longevity coronavirus 2 lasts on surfaces.

The report detects that liquid or solid droplets, known as aerosols, can remain on cardboard surfaces for up to 24 hours and on plastic for up to two to three days.

If a person orders pizza for takeout or delivery, there is a risk of possible infection if anyone sneezed or coughed near the delivery box. Even with a simple touch of the package, that exposure remains.

Restaurants that are currently still operating take precautionary measures, but WHO reports that cases of virus transmissions occur most in community settings. Food establishments are community settings.

By keeping restaurants open, customers and employees become endangered.

I t seems as though every time I go to get my Coronavirus update, someone is blaming millennials for the spread of the COVD-19 virus.

But I’m calling those people out right now, because if it wasn’t for the baby boomers I don’t think we would be where we are today.

In print and online, news outlets like the New York Post display tweets from random party goers and idiotic memes about being irresponsible.

Even Donald Trump added “I see a lot of people just dismissing this thing, that this is ‘No worse than the flu, and I’m going to continue to live my life,’ especially these people the younger generations.”

Somewhere along the line millennials gained this reputation of being lazy, careless and selfobsessed; and while there is a fraction of those who do fall in that category, it is thoughtless to lump everyone in that age range into a cookie-cutter.

This is understandable because people older than 60 are at greater risk of becoming seriously ill than younger folks who don't have underlying health conditions, but I sense that the younger generations are the ones that are displeased with the way that the baby boomer generation is handling this pandemic.

If those in charge would have had a greater sense of urgency from the first warnings health officials administered, we could have expeditiously curved the infection rate.

I’m not saying that the younger generation hasn’t helped perpetuate the spread of the virus, but if you have actually been outside in the past couple weeks, most people that you see are a solid 40+ because that is the age range of the only people who can afford to be out shopping right now.

Also millennials probably wouldn’t be the ones on spring break, considering that the age group is usually defined by those who were born between 1981 and 1996, and most of the people on spring break at this point are probably going to fall into Generation Z.

On April 5, McDonald’s employees at a Los Angeles location demonstrated a walk out protest because a coworker was diagnosed with COVID-19 and management had not shared that information, according to a Newseek article. Employees also said management had not given them protective masks or gear to use while working.

In worst case scenarios, this could be happening in multiple restaurants, further risking the health of essential workers and customers.

Self quarantining isn’t an ideal situation to be in, but it’s necessary to lessen the cases of people infected with COVID-19. That’s why it’s imperative that restaurants close along with the options for takeout and delivery.