A shared social-media post caught my attention, supposedly originating from a local TV personality who concluded that the only way he could have been infected with Covid-19 was through deliveries made to his residence. This is quite alarming and worrisome as most of us are staying home and heavily relying on deliveries to secure our essentials. The question then that we need to ask: Are our deliveries safe?
The delivery business is one of the “pivot” businesses in these times. It used to be that deliveries were associated with fast foods in the more affluent areas in the metropolis, and either done in-house or by a few service providers. People then availed themselves of such a service more for convenience considering the traffic situation in Metro Manila. Now, with the pandemic restricting our travel, the public has readily embraced deliveries, depending on them for all their essential needs—from groceries, food orders, online purchases and other services. Thus, the industry has grown a hundred-fold, employing thousands of independent riders, something that is very much welcome during these hard times.
But again, the question—is it safe? It should be, if all the proper safety protocols are in place.
Considering the apparent aggressiveness of the virus, such safety concerns are necessary. Currently, there are no guidelines issued by government regulators to particularly govern the safety of deliveries. But that should not stop the public from demanding these protocols from those involved in the deliveries, as well as from themselves.
There are three points of entry in the logistics process that we need to make sure are safe. The first one is at the source where the merchandise or item is picked up. The second entry point is the delivery handling process itself from the time the item is picked up and up to the point where it is received by the end user. The third point would be with the end user at the point of destination.
What should be the safety protocols to cover these possible points of virus entry? Here is a suggested set of guidelines—taken from currently best practices in other countries and culled from various international health agencies:
1. At the source: We would assume that those at the source—be it a restaurant, a supermarket or a warehouse, have properly disinfected their raw materials, ingredients and merchandise. A different set of disinfection process is needed with food items especially frozen or fresh food and produce. Together with this would be the regular disinfecting of their premises. We would also expect that all their personnel undergo periodic testing and assume that those working in the premises are Covid negative. A seal or certification of safety from a third-party service provider should be made known to the public. More importantly, a public notice and temporarily cessation of operations must be in place in case of an infection among their personnel.
2. The delivery process
- Regular disinfecting of delivery vehicles, and top boxes—There is currently an LTFRB circular that requires public transport to be disinfected every trip. Considering that these delivery vehicles cater to the public as well, such regulations must apply.
- Regular infection testing of the delivery riders—Though this shall be an extra expense that will need to be borne by either the service provider, the partner rider or the end user, such testing will have to be undertaken. This can even be subsidized by the local governments as delivery operations are mapped out per LGU.
- Contactless payments—All deliveries should be cashless or at the very least “change-less” in order to lessen human interaction.
- Built-in contact tracing—This process must automatically be in place with the delivery structure. Given that one rider delivers an average of five per day, the purpose of such a monitoring program is in order to check the possible spread of infection.
3. At the point of destination: Lastly, we as end users must not leave our safety to chance. Even if above steps are undertaken, it will not be wrong to add another step. Once items are secured in our homes, we need to disinfect them again; either with safe grade disinfectants, UVC lights or having it stay under the sun for a specified period.
We are in this pandemic and we all need to be the guardians of our own safety; a task that has to be ensured at all points of entry. As we are now all staying in our homes, deliveries are our only link to the outside world. We need then to ensure that such a link is safe and Covid-free. We expect the highest standard of safety from those who prepare and deliver our food and other essential needs in these pandemic times.
Thomas “Tim” Orbos was formerly with the DOTr and the MMDA. He has completed his graduate studies at the McCourt School of Public Policy of Georgetown University and is an alumnus of the MIT Sloan School of Management. He can be reached via e-mail at thomas_orbos@sloan.mit.edu