With coronavirus cases on the rise, many companies are doing their bit to raise awareness about the deadly disease, and now, online food deliver platform, Swiggy, has announced a series of proactive measures to help minimize the spread of the disease in India. In an official press release, the company detailed several steps that it says will ‘maintain a safe and healthy environment’ for all its customers, employees, delivery partners and restaurant workers during this difficult period.
First off, Swiggy says that its delivery partners are continually being trained in best practices of respiratory hygiene, proper method & frequency of washing hands as well as identification of associated symptoms. “Should a delivery partner notice any associated symptoms, they’ve been asked to immediately reach out to us and consult a medical professional. We are providing them with free medical consultation through our partners in such cases”, said the company.
The delivery guys have also been advised to self-quarantine themselves if they were to notice any of the known COVID-19 symptoms. The company said it is “committed to supporting them financially in such situations”, although, it’s not immediately clear as to whether they’ll be paid their full salary even if they take time off to self-quarantine themselves.
Swiggy is also working with its restaurant partners to apprise them of the best hygiene practices while handling and packaging food items. The company is also encouraging customers to request the delivery guys to leave their packages by the door (in case of online payment), in case they are showing any symptoms of COVID-19 or are feeling unwell in any way.
While some of the aforementioned steps will certainly go a long way in reducing the spread of the coronavirus in India, it will be interesting to see how many people will follow the best practices during the outbreak of a disease that has already infected more than 1 lakh and killed more than 4,000 globally.
