Restaurants in Italy, hit hard by fears of the coronavirus outbreak in the country, are seeing a silver lining in takeaway business.

Under normal circumstances, Italians eat an average of 6.2 meals per week outside the home, according to the data collection firm Statistica, second only to Spain in the European Union.

Italians also rank second among Europeans, behind France, in terms of time spent eating -- just over two hours per day, in this case.

But those habits had to be changed since the outbreak of coronavirus in the country five weeks ago when public health officials began warning people to stay away from crowded public places.

Though national statistics on restaurant visits are not collected, the Italian media is full of stories about restaurants temporarily closing, cutting back on staff, or reducing operating hours since the outbreak began.

Tourist arrivals in Italy have also taken a dramatic dip, according to government officials -- another blow to restaurateurs.

"I see people who used to be regular customers in the street, and I ask them why they don't come by for dinner, and they tell me they want to avoid crowds," Italo Caselli, a restaurant owner in the Roman neighborhood of Testaccio told Xinhua.

"The crazy thing is, they won't run into a crowd if they come by for dinner. One night this week, we had ten tables all night. Usually, it's 50," Caselli said.

One corner of the restaurant business that has seen an increase in business, however, has been the takeaway and delivery business.

Caselli said his takeaway pizza business has increased. "We maybe make twice as many takeaway pizzas as we usually do," he said -- though not nearly enough to compensate for the drop off in eat-in business.

Food delivery services are relatively new to Italy, but according to Nielsen eCommerce Tracking, a business data company, the number of food delivered meals in Italy in late February and early March increased by nearly 60 percent compared to the same period in 2019.

Officials from the main food delivery companies in Italy declined to comment on the trend when contacted by Xinhua in order to avoid the perception of profiting from a viral outbreak. But individual delivery personnel who spoke with Xinhua confirmed that their workload has spiked in recent weeks.

According to a report in the Italian financial daily Il Sole 24 Ore, restaurant operators in the Italian financial hub of Milan -- the largest city in the region of Lombardy, which has been hit hardest by coronavirus -- have organized themselves to provide takeaway or delivery services.

Several restaurants reportedly made changes to their menus to make sure the food would not see a drop-off in quality during the delivery process.

According to restaurant critic Aldo Spagnolo, for those willing to eat out, the crisis could represent an opportunity to try some of the country's best eateries.

"Maybe it's a good time to call the restaurant that used to have a waiting list of a month or more," Spagnolo said in an interview. "It could be that they'll have a table open for tonight."