What you need to know about safety and online deliveries. Reuters
What you need to know about safety and online deliveries. Reuters
What you need to know about safety and online deliveries. Reuters
What you need to know about safety and online deliveries. Reuters

Coronavirus: How safe are your deliveries?


Selina Denman
  • English
  • Arabic

If you’re currently being stringent about self-isolating, then it’s likely you are relying on delivery services to bring you food, groceries and other goods. You may be indulging in a spot of online shopping to keep your spirits up, relying on apps like Instashop to stock up on essentials, or calling on food delivery services to add a little variety to your daily meals.

'Very low risk of spread from packaging'

The good news is that the risk of catching the virus from an object that has been moved multiple times, travelled over the course of a few days and been exposed to varying conditions and temperatures, is low. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States: “There is likely very low risk of spread from products or packaging that are shipped over a period of days or weeks at ambient temperatures…. Currently there is no evidence to support transmission of COVID-19 associated with imported goods.”

Erring on the side of caution

Nonetheless, it is always best to err on the side of caution. It is believed that Covid-19 can survive on plastic or steel for 72 hours and on more porous surfaces, such as cardboard, for about 24 hours, although it becomes increasingly less infectious over this period. For more details on how long the virus can survive on various surfaces and hands, see our story here. 

This means any potential risk of a parcel received in a cardboard box is removed within a day. So one course of action is to refrain from unboxing non-essential items - those books from Amazon or clothes from Asos - for 24 hours. It might even help increase the anticipation of those new buys.

Aramex delivery bikes. Antonie Robertson/The National
Aramex delivery bikes. Antonie Robertson/The National

Wash hands after handling

If you can't wait, try to get rid of any outer packaging outside your home – throw it straight into your apartment building rubbish chute, or in the bins outside your villa. Wash your hands immediately (and for at least 20 seconds - you know the score) after handling anything new. Once you have unwrapped or unboxed your items, wash them off or wipe them down with a disinfectant. See our guide to safely handing fruit, vegetables and meat here.

If you want to be extra stringent, handle all deliveries while wearing protective gloves and then dispose of them and wash your hands.

Certainly, whoever is handing you the package should be wearing protective gloves, and you should not make direct contact with that person. Make all your payments online, so you are not handling cash or handing over your card to anyone - not even to use the “tap” function. Most importantly, make sure to be respectful - these essential workers are a lifeline at the moment and deserve our appreciation.

Ask questions

A number of food delivery services in the UAE, including McDonalds, have initiated contactless delivery options - the premise being that they will leave your food package on a clean surface (such as a table or a platform) outside your door, take a photo of it and then send it to you. But if you are uncomfortable with the way you see any of your packages and food being handled, say so and send them back - again, just do it respectfully.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions about the safety protocol of the companies you are dealing with - and favour those that are transparent about how they are reacting to the current situation. UAE online retailer Ounass has this to say about its own processes: “Our response team has enforced stringent measures at every step of the order and delivery process, through enhanced hygiene protocols... Our vans are fully cleaned inside and out in an intensive day process. Drivers are equipped with disinfectants and face masks, and wear protective gloves when handing any order. All orders are housed with us and dispatched directly from Dubai. Every order is cleaned upon arrival until its reaches you, and your products are handed only with protective gloves.”

Amazon has also offered a detailed breakdown of the safety measures it has put into place. “With guidance from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organisation, we’ve implemented a series of preventative health measures at our sites around the word to keep our employees, partners and customers safe,” the company says.

Company Profile:

Name: The Protein Bakeshop

Date of start: 2013

Founders: Rashi Chowdhary and Saad Umerani

Based: Dubai

Size, number of employees: 12

Funding/investors:  $400,000 (2018) 

Short-term let permits explained

Homeowners and tenants are allowed to list their properties for rental by registering through the Dubai Tourism website to obtain a permit.

Tenants also require a letter of no objection from their landlord before being allowed to list the property.

There is a cost of Dh1,590 before starting the process, with an additional licence fee of Dh300 per bedroom being rented in your home for the duration of the rental, which ranges from three months to a year.

Anyone hoping to list a property for rental must also provide a copy of their title deeds and Ejari, as well as their Emirates ID.

Conflict, drought, famine

Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.

Band Aid

Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.

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UAE v Gibraltar

What: International friendly

When: 7pm kick off

Where: Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City

Admission: Free

Online: The match will be broadcast live on Dubai Exiles’ Facebook page

UAE squad: Lucas Waddington (Dubai Exiles), Gio Fourie (Exiles), Craig Nutt (Abu Dhabi Harlequins), Phil Brady (Harlequins), Daniel Perry (Dubai Hurricanes), Esekaia Dranibota (Harlequins), Matt Mills (Exiles), Jaen Botes (Exiles), Kristian Stinson (Exiles), Murray Reason (Abu Dhabi Saracens), Dave Knight (Hurricanes), Ross Samson (Jebel Ali Dragons), DuRandt Gerber (Exiles), Saki Naisau (Dragons), Andrew Powell (Hurricanes), Emosi Vacanau (Harlequins), Niko Volavola (Dragons), Matt Richards (Dragons), Luke Stevenson (Harlequins), Josh Ives (Dubai Sports City Eagles), Sean Stevens (Saracens), Thinus Steyn (Exiles)

Global state-owned investor ranking by size

1.

United States

2.

China

3.

UAE

4.

Japan

5

Norway

6.

Canada

7.

Singapore

8.

Australia

9.

Saudi Arabia

10.

South Korea

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Volvo ES90 Specs

Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)

Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp

Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm

On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region

Price: Exact regional pricing TBA

'Avengers: Infinity War'
Dir: The Russo Brothers
Starring: Chris Evans, Chris Pratt, Tom Holland, Robert Downey Junior, Scarlett Johansson, Elizabeth Olsen
Four stars

The specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo

Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm

Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm

Transmission: 9-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh117,059

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Continental champions

Best Asian Player: Massaki Todokoro (Japan)

Best European Player: Adam Wardzinski (Poland)

Best North & Central American Player: DJ Jackson (United States)

Best African Player: Walter Dos Santos (Angola)

Best Oceanian Player: Lee Ting (Australia)

Best South American Player: Gabriel De Sousa (Brazil)

Best Asian Federation: Saudi Jiu-Jitsu Federation