Home Shopping Service – Coronavirus
Question
Now as many people are afraid to go out because they might catch coronavirus, lots of people have turned to home shopping services in which a paid shopper goes to a store and delivers them to your home. The paid shopper is risking catching the disease, and therefore their risking their own life, by shopping on your behalf. Is there a religious ethical issue in having a stranger put their own life on the line instead of yourself in order to get you groceries?
Answers
If it were true that they are putting their health on the line by delivering your shopping then it would definitely be a serious issue and, presumably, it would be forbidden to ask for such a service. However, the reality is that no one is really putting their health at risk by delivering shopping. The shopping is delivered to the door of the purchaser and left outside. The person delivering the purchases is not coming into contact with those who bought them and the delivery people are not exposing themselves to anything more dangerous than they would be if they stayed in the store and served the customers who come to shop there. Even in cases where the delivery services has interaction with the the purchaser it is done according to the restrictions of the Ministry of Health which includes protective clothing such as masks and gloves. Subsequently, there is no Halachic problem with using such services.
Best wishes from the AskTheRabbi.org Team