If you heat the food, that should kill the virus.
Questions about COVID-19 and food safety, answered.
www.seriouseats.com
As a restaurateur, Mr Lopez-Alt's interest in food safety related the Covid-19 outbreak is commendable, but I believe he has erroneously concluded, as have many others that it is only a respiratory virus spread primarily by inhalation of virus containing droplets expelled the coughs or sneezes of infected persons. Common influenza is a well known example of such a virus. Although flues can be quite infectious, they are nothing like this Covid-19 thing.
However, the recent discovery of the Covid-19 virus in the stools of infected patients clearly indicate that it also has a gastrointestinal component.
Gastrointestinal viruses typically originate in the virus shed through vomit and stools of infected individuals and spread through poor washroom and hand hygiene finding their way through contaminated hands and surfaces to be orally ingested (eaten) by the new victims. I believe Norwalk virus is an example of such a virus.
Now, if we had hybrid virus that:
1. could be spread, and contracted like both a respiratory virus and a gastrointestinal virus,
2. and then spared many of its victims serious symptoms so they would continue to circulate in society and spread the virus throughout the contagious phases of their infections, causing new victims to be infected either directly through virus inhaled by close contact with coughing or sneezing individuals, or through ingestion of contaminated food
We would have an extremely contagious virus such as this world has not seen in a very longtime, something that would behave a lot like the Covid-19 virus.
Add the ability to develop potentially lethal acute respiratory syndrome in some of its victims and we have a very scary situation indeed.!
Given the mild symptoms experienced my many victims, the true infection will always be grossly understated due to the large number of mild cases that will likely never report and never be tested. Much like the West Nile virus that way.
With respect to food safety, I agree the Covid-19 virus is neutralized by cooking, but that doesn't mean that cooked food is not susceptible to re-contamination afterwards.
Besides the practice of a high level of hand hygiene, I think it makes sense that restaurant staff handling and serving food after cooking wear masks to prevent it from being re-infected with respiratory droplets.