- Title: Monument erected in Moscow for couriers who fed city during lockdown
- Date: 3rd July 2020
- Summary: MOSCOW, RUSSIA (JULY 3, 2020) (REUTERS) MONUMENT DEDICATED TO DELIVERY WORKERS SIGN ON MONUMENT READING (Russian) 'TO THOSE WHO MADE SELF-ISOLATION POSSIBLE' DELIVERY MAN WAITING FOR ORDER OUTSIDE RESTAURANT DELIVERY MAN RIDING BICYCLE ACROSS STREET MONUMENT TO COURIERS (SOUNDBITE) (English) OZON MARKETING DIRECTOR, OLEG DOROZHOK, SAYING: "We know that in many towns across the world people are planning to install monuments to honour doctors and volunteers, but we believe that the delivery people also contributed a lot to this situation." COURIER RIDING BICYCLE IN STREET (SOUNDBITE) (English) OZON MARKETING DIRECTOR, OLEG DOROZHOK, SAYING: "The design is quite simple, it reflects the situation when a person, a delivery man, comes to the client and puts the parcel with the products at the door, and that actually shows to-door delivery, we launched a year ago, (which) was really the way to keep a client safe, and how to avoid contact with other people." MONUMENT COURIER IN STREET CHECKING HIS PHONE PART OF MONUMENT REPRESENTING PHONE IN HAND (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) AZBUKA VKUSA COURIER, 27, SERGEI GOREKOV, SAYING: "The monument makes me proud of course, I have never in my life seen or heard of the opening of a monument to the couriers. It's quite cool. I have never seen it anywhere else. Of course, the courier job was highly required during the pandemic." OZON COURIER, ALEXANDER AKOPOV, NEAR MONUMENT PART OF MONUMENT REPRESENTING HEAD (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) OZON COURIER, ALEXANDER AKOPOV, SAYING: "The roads were empty, so the delivery time was short and the volumes were higher than usual. So we managed to earn more and we finished work earlier." DELIVERY WOMAN WALKING TO RESTAURANT COURIER DRIVING SCOOTER SOUNDBITE) (Russian) YANDEX FOOD COURIER, EKATERINA, SAYING: "(I find this work) Great! I am doing this job for two years. Of course my work helps people, people are not left hungry." COURIER RIDING BICYCLE ACROSS STREET (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) MOSCOW RESIDENT, ALYONA, SAYING: "I am a creative person so I spend a lot of time on work, education and so on. I was also working from home. So this (delivery) is very convenient for me as it saved me time." (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) MOSCOW RESIDENT, ALYONA, SAYING: "It helped me to avoid shops in quarantine, and now it helps when the time is pressing. I can just order food and not bother about cooking." DELIVERY MAN NEAR ROAD, KREMLIN IN BACKGROUND KREMLIN VARIOUS OF DELIVERY MEN IN STREET
- Embargoed: 17th July 2020 12:18
- Keywords: Russia cornavirus courier delivery lockdown monument quarantine self isolation
- Location: MOSCOW, RUSSIA
- City: MOSCOW, RUSSIA
- Country: Russia
- Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment
- Reuters ID: LVA001CL9A81Z
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Doctors and nurses have won praise for their efforts to contain Moscow's coronavirus crisis, but a monument unveiled on Friday (July 3) celebrates different frontline workers: delivery men and women.
Designed by artist Alexei Garikovich, it is around three meters tall and features the form of a standing man hollowed out from a thick sheet of rusting metal. Its inscription reads: "Dedicated to those who made self-isolation possible."
"The monument makes me proud of course," said 27-year-old courier Sergei Gorekov, who works for the Azbuka Vkusa supermarket chain.
"I have never in my life seen or heard of the opening of a monument to couriers. It's quite cool."
A strict self-isolation regime in the Russian capital saw Muscovites confined to their homes, with many using supermarket and restaurant deliveries to reduce their exposure to the virus.
They relied on couriers, who delivered food, parcels and takeaway meals despite the risks.
Moscow was the epicentre of Russia's coronavirus outbreak, in a country where almost 670,000 people have been infected and close to 10,000 have died.
At the peak of the lockdown, most residents were only allowed out of their homes to buy food, seek emergency medical attention, walk the dog or take out the garbage.
Commissioned by five retailers - Ozon, Perekrestok.ru, Azbuka Vkusa, Dodo Pizza and Delivery Club - the statue honours the more than 60,000 couriers who worked during lockdown as demand for delivery services skyrocketed.
Perekrestok.ru, part of the X5 retail group, said it received four times as many orders in May than the same period a year earlier, while online retailer Ozon said its purchases volume grew by 200% in April.
"Every day they go to work, they don't just deliver goods. They deliver comfort and peace of mind," the companies said in a joint statement.
(Production: Anton Derbenev, Dmitry Madorsky, Lev Sergeev) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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