Want to have a pizza or order milk? Finally, there is some good news for Delhiites under lockdown due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) scare. Online delivery services of Zomato, Flipkart, Amazon, Pizza Hut, Swiggy and Lal Path Labs among others have been allowed by the Delhi Police, which has issued a circular to all its departments, including the traffic police, to make relaxation for these online services.
These services also include Urban Clap, which provides home services for essential house-cleaning purposes and repairs.
A senior Delhi Police official said, “The step has been taken to maintain supply of essential services and also to reduce the number of people coming on roads to procure these items.”
Delhi is a hub of students and job seekers, elderly and many who stay alone and have special needs or do not have cooking facilities at home and are facing crisis of getting by daily house works. These sections will get relief with the online delivery services being allowed.
However, it remains to be seen how these online services will follow the strict measures to prevent future spread of the coronavirus.
Hand-to-hand delivery had been stopped for the purpose of minimising human contact and breaking the chain of COVID-19.
However, delivery of medical items and even blood sampling was becoming a problem for stay-at-home patients and people who require regular medical check-ups or needed to visit doctors and chemists apart from buying groceries every day.
A government official said the move minimises the visits people are still making to grocery stores, chemists, doctors and blood sampling facilities as these services can be delivered on a personalised basis, thus avoiding mass contact.
Reliance Fresh, Jabong, Easyday, 24/7, Blue Dart, MAX Path, DTDC, Snapdeal, Medlife, PharmEasy, Big Bazaar, Grofers, Myntra, Foodpanda, Nutrimoo Milk Dairy, Dunzo, Milkbasket and few other e-commerce retailers and operators have been allowed to run their services.
The Delhi Police order has been issued in all district police stations, traffic police, railway stations, IGIA and other places.
