‘Is Ordering Takeout Unethical?’ A Medical Ethicist Answers Some of the Most Common Moral Questions Around Coronavirus

An epidemic is a test not just of our mettle but our morals. In a time of lockdowns and quarantines, restaurant closings and shuttered schools, the temptation is often to bend the rules, relying on the familiar just-this-once or it-couldn’t-hurt dodge. Even when we’re trying to behave well, there are moral conundrums that present themselves—situations in which we have to choose between one of two options and neither one is risk-free. TIME spoke to Arthur Caplan, director of the Division of Medical Ethics at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine, about some of the most common moral dilemmas associated with the coronavirus. If I’m a young, healthy person and my city has not shut down entirely yet, should I stay in as part of social distancing or should I go out, support local businesses and tip well at restaurants? You should stay in. If you want restaurant food, order out and tip generously that way. You should not be sitting in groups in public places. Remember, even if you’re young and healthy, you’re still at risk of turning into a disease vector who could infect others. Merely getting to the restaurant may have required a bus or an Uber, which could expose you to the virus. The businesses can take the two- or three-week shutdown better than grandma can take the virus. But isn’t ordering takeout unethical too? After all, I’m contributing to the delivery person’s being exposed to me and to others. I th...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 Source Type: news