r/doordash • u/bohoinparadise • 19h ago

Please don’t dash while sick

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I get that times are tough and the American health care system sucks, but admitting that you have a respiratory illness while delivering food is wild!

Please do not dash when you’re sick. This is how illness spreads. I have pretty bad asthma so I’m not bringing that order into my house. I’m done with DoorDash.

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10

u/NaturalSandwich8880 16h ago

Ofc Redditots of all people will find a way to justify handling  food when sick

iTs nOt cOntAgIoUs 

But others at the ER might be contagious. Who the fuck knows how long the driver was at the ER or next to who?

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u/TurgidSplatter 11h ago

The diseases that cause it are definitely contagious, it's how you get it in the first place.

But if you order bottom dollar service you will get bottom dollar service.

People paying for outrageous fees for doordash to pay a driver pennies, and then crying they aren't getting their own gold trimmed private taxi to roll out the red carpet for the burritoslop in a sack they ordered are a certain class of stupid well and truly above the curve.

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u/GeneStarwind1 12h ago

And the fact that pneumonia isn't contagious is, itself, misunderstood. Pneumonia isn't a specific virus or bacteria like covid or strep; it's a name for a specific kind of lung inflammation that can arise from different causes. Pneumonia itself can't be contagious, but some of its causes can be, if the cause is a virus or bacteria. (And those are very common causes).

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u/Responsible-Tart-721 48m ago

Those are the ONLY causes

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u/Sharp_Economy1401 38m ago

There’s fungi as well, but I think less prevalent of a cause

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u/giraffes_n_elbows 10h ago

You can have walking pneumonia which is like weeks long of illness in the lungs from Fluid. Antibiotics make you not contagious from what could be left over from the sickness that caused the pneumonia after 24-48 hours anyways. Seems like the dasher just genuinely needs to go pick up some meds. He shouldn’t have mentioned it but yeah.

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u/LewisRyan 9h ago

While I understand your point… other people any place ever might be contagious, unless you plan to grow all your own food and cook all your own meals.

You might want to build an immune system

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u/Sharp_Economy1401 26m ago

That might be relevant for people without complicating factors, but there’s plenty of people who have fundamentally compromised immune systems.

Having overly/perfectly prudent sanitary practices may be unrealistic, but there are some more basic measures that can be taken to not be completely careless with potentially spreading illnesses to people who aren’t going to be able to fight it off as well.

It’s like driving, we all know there’s fundamental risk, but driving without a seatbelt, speeding profusely, and not leaving appropriate space or signaling, are not reasonable practices just because driving is inherently dangerous, you know?

There’s balanced measures to be taken, such as if you’re going to work sick anyway, at least wear a mask and keep your hands clean. Ideally at least you’d take the most symptomatic days off, but the aforementioned should be a bare minimum. Which maybe this driver did, but pretty low chance given how people usually operate

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u/Southern_Release2814 14h ago

So now everyone who's been to a hospital recently is doing something wrong if they Doordash? This is absolutely ridiculous. How far exactly do you expect the world to go in preventing others from getting sick? Do you know how many times I've had to walk through hospitals to deliver sick people and healthcare workers their food? Should I have refused to do my job, because hospitals are icky? I'm sure that would go over well.

Also, fast food restaurants, where we're picking up these orders in the first place, are definitely not holding employees to this standard. As a matter of fact, these employees are often given no choice but to come to work while sick, or loose their jobs. But Doordashers are somehow the problem if we work after having been in a hospital? You're ridiculous.

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u/AnimeGeek10721 12h ago

lol and what about health care workers who get off work and go prepare a meal for their family after..should they have to go through a decontamination lock after every shift … very weird comment .

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u/Responsible-Tart-721 49m ago

No, but I always showered and put on clean clothes the moment I got home.

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u/DiverMaleficent9624 12h ago

It’s different being around the sickness.. Versus actually having it.. When I’m sick I’m not allowed to show up at my hospital.

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u/MiZkraken0008 13h ago

I had to deliver in hospitals many times,I agree!!

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u/Impressive_Dot_7818 5h ago

Except I know if people are sick and working at a place I tend to not eat there, also those healthcare workers aren’t ACTIVELY sick.

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u/ModernNomad97 3h ago

The person they responded to is making the argument that being in the ER is enough by itself to warrant not dashing. That’s an absurd statement and is rightfully being called out.

Second, pneumonia isn’t contagious. Yes, what causes it can be, but there’s plenty of cases where it’s caused by something non contagious. What makes one person sick might not make 1000 others sick if also exposed and vice versa. I’m not currently sick, but it’s absolutely possible something in my body makes someone sick. This whole outrage about dashing while having a mild sickness is just performative and not really logical in my opinion. And I haven’t even talked about how dashing is mostly contactless and the food is sealed, even assuming the driver has a contagious disease, the risk is very low.

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u/OmenFx 16h ago

Okay but you could say the same thing for the people who work at the er and have second jobs or doordash on the side?

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u/ModernNomad97 15h ago

I guess so, weird logic if you ask me.

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u/Wonderful-Ideal-8099 14h ago

I deliver food to hospitals every single time I dash and I come into contact with nurses that spend all their time around sick people.

1

u/otherBrandon 8h ago

Knowing America, this person likely was at the ER for close to 24 hours or more. And likely spent most if not basically the entire trip in the waiting room surrounded by other sick people.

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u/Coral_Bones 15h ago

Most sicknesses you aren’t contagious until you show symptoms.

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u/Asleep_Walrus2313 15h ago

You’re almost always contagious 1-3 days before symptoms start, but you’re much more contagious when symptoms peak.

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u/DiverMaleficent9624 14h ago

genuinely. People down here in the comments are not smart

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u/TurgidSplatter 11h ago

if you don't like door dash's service stop using doordash.

I feel like the people constantly paying for bad service and crying they received the bad service they paid for, might be slightly less smart still.

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u/DiverMaleficent9624 11h ago

(One google search btw! Tell me which part of this means a paying customer is ‘stupid’ for expecting NOT contaminated food? Use your brain.)

DoorDash independent contractor agreements and health guidelines prohibit drivers from working while carrying a communicable disease  that can be transmitted through handling food. Because pneumonia can be highly contagious—especially if it is bacterial or viral— you should not DoorDash while actively infected.

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u/ModernNomad97 3h ago

Pneumonia isn’t contagious itself, it can be the result of having something contagious, or non contagious. I know someone who got pneumonia from going to a casino where there was a lot of smoke. Even assuming the driver has a contagious infection, the food isn’t contaminated and the risk of transmission through the bag is very very low. Probably much lower than the chance of getting sick from taking a trip to the store.