Couriers: unsung quarantine heroes

Travel restriction measures are essential to contain the uncontrolled growth of the pandemic, which would overcrowd the health system. However, there is a group of sectors and people that need to keep moving now more than ever. Health professionals, logistics operations, suppliers of hospital materials, hygiene, medicines and food are some more obvious examples.

I would, however, like to highlight a group of professionals, generally liberal, who are playing a big role in preventing the displacement of those whose isolation is recommended. Deliveries are essential to maintain the quarantine of most of the population. However, despite being important for reducing cross-transmission, they can also be a very efficient means of transporting the new coronavirus between isolated groups, posing a threat of contamination even for those who do not leave their homes.

Despite the risk, couriers remain the anonymous heroes of the quarantine and it is up to managers, consumers and the couriers themselves to implement practices that minimize the risks of contamination in the last mile.

In China, online food retailers have calmed the country by offering people a way to buy food at reasonable prices without being able to leave their homes. But many of the isolated consumers wanted to be sure that only their food was hot and not the people involved in preparing and delivering their orders. Thus, some restaurants began to measure the temperature of their cooks, packers and delivery people with each order, informing through a note the hygiene measures taken and the temperatures of the people involved in the process of preparing and delivering the order.

In Brazil, pharmacies, markets, restaurants and delivery apps keep registering growth in their delivery services. And couriers, who are at the forefront of these services, often face working conditions that further increase their exposure. Most of them have no other option for livelihood and, as most of them are self-employed, the responsibility for their safety and health ends up falling on themselves, making their reality even harder.

Some initiatives are being put into practice by companies to protect couriers and consumers. Loggi, for example, invested in communication and guidance, distributed alcohol gel and gloves in its main branches and implemented screening at the entrance of its DCs with body temperature measurement and questioning about the health of employees. iFood created two funds for couriers totaling R$2 million. The first fund, in the amount of R$1 million, finances a month of inactivity for couriers who belong to the risk group and the second will support those who need to remain in quarantine due to Covid-19.

For consumer safety, the most recurrent practices are the incentive to pay via app and the creation of the “contactless” delivery option, both implemented by iFood, Rappi and Uber Eats.

Despite the quick reaction of delivery apps with the implementation of practices to avoid contamination of delivery people and consumers, these initiatives are still not enough to guarantee the non-transmission at home. However, the risk of contamination is greatly reduced if we compare the existence of this service with its non-existence, making couriers essential last mile soldiers in the battle against Covid-19.

References:

China's food delivery workers are lifeline in coronavirus outbreak

Coronavirus changes routine in app delivery and transport companies

iFood – Our Delivery