TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — LINE Taiwan announced Tuesday (April 7) that it was adding a "food ordering and pick-up" service on its LINE SPOT feature to encourage citizens to order grab-and-go meals amidst the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Since the outbreak, the country's hospitality industry has suffered immensely, as more Taiwanese have chosen to minimize excursions to hotels and restaurants out of fear of contracting the virus. Following the Central Epidemic Command Center's (CECC) implementation of social distancing measures on April 1, restaurants that have remained open have seen an even steeper decline in customers.

To boost Taiwan's food industry while encouraging social distancing, LINE Taiwan said the new feature would allow Taiwanese to order meals online from 500 restaurants, including Thai Town (瓦城), Very Thai Noodles (大心新泰式麵食), and Fat Daddy Fried Chicken (胖老爹), as well as breakfast and beverage shops. It added that currently most restaurants were located in Taipei and New Taipei, but the company was planning to include more eateries in other parts of the country in the next few weeks, reported UDN.

The Tokyo-based company pointed out that users could access LINE SPOT directly from their LINE account without needing to download a new app. It also stated that all monetary transactions would be conducted online to avoid potential virus transmission.