In the middle of winter, Zaberbekov, a young Kazakh boy, shuttled through the streets of the capital city of Nursultan in the wind and snow, delivering takeaways, medicines and groceries to customers.
Saberbekov, 24, is a college student. Earlier this year, he joined the online delivery platform GLOVO and became a part-time takeaway rider. Thousands of local takeaway riders are giving hope to people amid the coronavirus pandemic.
After the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in Kazakhstan in March this year, the government of Kazakhstan imposed measures to close down the city. Restaurants and bars across the country no longer provide canteen food, stores are limited, and the online distribution business has increased significantly.
With the sudden outbreak of the pandemic, online shopping has become a new choice for many people. Riders help everyone get the living materials they need and let more people reduce the frequency of going out. This not only reduces the speed of the spread of the virus, but also contributes to maintaining the normal operation of daily life. Sayerbekov said.
He said that in June and July, when the pandemic was very serious, the beds of major hospitals in Kazakhstan were saturated and related drugs were in short supply.
Most mild patients infected with the novel coronavirus could only be isolated and treated at their homes. Riders received many orders to buy antipyretics and antibiotics on behalf of others.
“At that time, many people were infected with the novel coronavirus and needed medicine. We traveled to various pharmacies in the city and traveled for more than 10 hours a day during the busiest time,” said Saberbekov.
“Customers infected with the virus will call to remind us to leave the medicine at the door and tell us to be well protected. Despite the hard work and the risks, we have received a lot of sincere thanks to me that I feel that this job is worth it.”
During the pandemic, Kazakhstan’s e-commerce field developed rapidly, and the business volume of major e-commerce platforms, including GLOVO, has increased significantly.
According to the data released by the Ministry of Trade and Integration of Kazakhstan, in the first half of 2020, the turnover of Kazakhstan’s e-commerce was 432 billion tenge (about 6.8 billion yuan), an increase of 150% from the same period last year, and it is expected to reach 900 billion tenge (about 14.1 billion yuan) for the whole year.
Saberbekov said that as takeaway riders, he and his colleagues have actively participated in many public welfare activities organized by GLOVO in Kazakhstan, including delivering meals to medical workers on the front line of the pandemic and sending gifts to the children of medical staff. It is reported that during the lockdown of Nursultan, GLOVO cooperated with several chain restaurants to deliver free lunches to employees of more than a dozen hospitals.
In Almaty, GLOVO and the municipal government jointly organized a charity event to distribute 25,000 medicines and food to citizens.
Now Kazakhstan is suffering the second wave of the pandemic, with a cumulative number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus reaching 140,000.” This unprecedented pandemic has seriously affected the economy and people’s livelihood.
The takeout we deliver to our customers are seeds of hope, and this work protects people’s health and happiness. Sayerbekov said.
